The Hidden Gladiator
by Just Anny
Summary: When his parents died during an invasion of the Romans in Athene, Perseus Jackson, prince of Greece, was forced to survive on his own. But when he's captured by slave traders, his live changed once again. What will the young prince do when he is forced to fight in the Colosseum in Rome? AU: No (demi)gods, set during the Roman Empire
1. Prologue: The Mother and the Queen

**Summary: **When his parents died during an invasion of the Romans in Athene, Perseus Jackson, prince of Greece, was forced to survive on his own. But when he's captured by slave traders, his live changed once again. What will the young prince do when he is forced to fight in the Colosseum in Rome?

**Disclaimer: **I'll never own PJO, HoO and it's characters :'( This story _does _belong to me though ;P

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**Prologue: The Mother and the Queen**

_A sacrifice that should never have been made_

They could hear screams filling the palace while the men fell to their deaths. The boy wanted to run back to help them, but his mother knew better. She knew he wouldn't be able to help. That he would be killed instantly. Just like his father, the king, did.

She felt a tear falling over her cheek. He'd died in front of them while protecting them. She shook her head. Thinking about it now would be useless. She looked at her son. Water was flowing from his eyes, but he kept going._ Just like his father_, she said to herself, _they look so much alike_.

Even their appearances. The raven black hair. The sea-green eyes, who would turn into undeniable puppy-eyes when he begged for something. She smiled at herself. Just like when the king had asked her for marriage. Those pleading eyes, without any doubt in them. How was it possible for her to deny them?

Behind them, she could hear the shouting from the men that followed them, but they kept running. They were almost there. Almost safe. But everybody else would be dead. The soldiers and the citizens of Greece would've died for them. She had already seen the burning flames topping the highest buildings of Athene.

The boy tripped over a tree root. She could tell he was tired from running. So was she, but they had to continue running, otherwise his father's death would've been in vain. "Mommy!", she stopped and turned to him. His right knee was bleeding. The smell of blood was already reaching her nose. He wouldn't be able to run as fast as before now.

But they had to be quick. She took the boy in her arms and ran further, hoping they were fast enough. A spear pierced the ground where she stood a second ago. They had to be much faster, but she was already tired.

She could see the secret passage. It had been there for hundreds of years. The city was already lost, but her son wouldn't be. He would be safe if they could reach the passage. She glanced back. A dozen of soldiers ran toward them with blood covering their armors. But not their blood. No, the blood of the Greek soldiers. A few more spears were thrown at them, but they missed their target.

They had finally outrun the soldiers - for now - when they reached their goal. She put her son on the ground and kissed him on his forehead. She could hear twigs cracking, not far away. They would be killed if they didn't escape now. She already knew what she should do. She whispered something in his ear.

The boy's eyes widened and he shook his head. Another round of tears falling over his cheeks. "Please, mommy, don't", but she shook her head. She pushed her son toward the entrance. He ran into the darkness, but not before turning to take a final glance at his mother. She smiled reassuringly. With tears in his eyes, he smiled back and turned.

The - former - queen of Athene sighed in relief. He was finally safe. She did her job as a mother. Now she must do her job as a queen. She turned and took her sword. The Celestial Bronze blade shimmered in the moonlight. Her son would be proud of her. His both parents would've died with a sword in their hands. The best death a warrior could think of.

The soldiers stopped when they saw her. A wicked grin on their young leader's face. He stepped forward. She could see the scar on his face clearly. The traitor. The one who'd let the soldiers into Athene. He would die with her. Determined, she dashed toward him, aiming her blade at his neck. He easily parried and tried to punch her with the hilt of his sword. She dodged, but was soon faced with a sword coming toward her chest.

She tried to dodge again, but the blade cut her left arm in the process. But now, he would be off guard. "May the gods send you to hell, Luke Castellan", she grumbled before stabbing her sword into his chest. While doing so, three spears pierced her back. She smiled dryly. Her last thought that she'd accomplished her goal.

Her eight year old son looked at the scene before his eyes. He saw the mean guy with the scar collapsing on the ground. He saw his mother falling on her knees with the spears still in her back. With tears in his eyes and sorrow in his heart, he ran for his life. Not knowing where to go. Just knowing he'd never let this happen again.

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**[A/N]: Just tell me what you think ;) If it's liked, I'll update as soon as possible! If there's anything wrong with the chapter: please tell me, so I can change it. **

**Thanks for reading! 'Till next time ^^**

**Xx Anny**


	2. Chapter 1: Alone and Forgotten

**Chapter 1: Alone and Forgotten**

To never forget the horrors of the past

The sun burned on his skin. Drops of sweat slid from his forehead as he continued walking. They had said that all the roads led to Rome. But they hadn't mentioned that those roads were heavy and long. _Very long, _he thought bitterly. He looked around him, searching for a place to rest. The place was deserted and dry. A few dry shrubs covered the surface. When he finally saw a rock, he went over there and sat on it.

It had been a hard and long travel. He had survived it though - until now. There wasn't a single night when he wasn't haunted by his memories, so he hadn't been sleeping very well, and there hadn't been a single day when he wasn't surrounded by trouble.

With his hand, he touched the scar on his arm. The arrow had gone deep. It had taken weeks to heal. _Those damn Romans. Wasn't stealing my country enough for you? _

He knew that they hadn't known who he was. He was too secretive for that. He still regretted that stupid action he had made when he was ten: revealing his name and status to some kid he'd just met. Saying "Hey! My name is Perseus Jackson and I'm the prince of Greece!" to a Roman wasn't that smart. Percy snorted. Not smart _at all. _His name was on every wanted list in Rome, now. Good thing they didn't know his appearance though.

He put his sword out of its scabbard = and inspected the blade. It had lost its sharpness after all the fighting, but if you put that aside, it was an excellent sword. Great balance and strong steel. It was Celestial Bronze after all. The Romans had instructed the blacksmiths in Greece to stop making swords made of Celestial Bronze and to start working with Imperial Gold, which was the trademark of Rome when it came to steel.

Luckily, Percy's childhood friend Beckendorf was good in forging. So they made a deal. If Beckendorf made a Greek sword, he didn't own Percy anymore for helping him to get his girlfriend, Silena, when they were young.

Percy's face darkened when he thought of Silena. He had heard from Beckendorf that she had sided with the Romans even before the attack on Athene. That she had told him that before they broke up, to make things easier. Percy could tell Beckendorf was still not over her.

He had visited him a few months ago to check up on him. Before that, they hadn't seen each other for 4 years, when Percy was 13. Blame the Romans.

The attack of Athene was now one of the most memorable moments of the Roman empire. His father and the king **(A/N: Yes... King. I don't like the title emperor... And this is an AU, so...) **of Rome had fought against each other since the rise of the Roman empire. After they had taken Athene, they had Greece.

The Romans' greatest threat was annihilated. After one year, they had conquered most realms around them. Annihilating every possible threat. That king of them was truly paranoid... _Because of that, my parents..._

His thoughts were cut of when someone hit the back of his head. His vision went black. "Sorry man, but we have to do this. Let's go Connor", a guy said to his comrade before Percy went unconscious.

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When Percy opened his eyes, he found himself laying on hot sand,. His head was throbbing and he could barely move. He looked at his body and noticed why. His hands and feet were tied up. His shoes were gone, such as his bag and sword. He cursed in Greek. Robbed by some mere thieves.

Still, he couldn't be mad at them. In the past 9 years, his mind was set on only one thing: surviving. And he had survived. Even if he had to rob food and golden coins. He couldn't use drachmae inside the Roman empire anymore without losing his head.

He looked around him and saw the rock he had been sitting on not so long ago. He crawled toward the rock and began to cut the robe around his hands, using a sharp edge of the rock. It took his a while, but it worked. When his hands were free, he began to rub his slightly red wrists.

He was about to cut the robe around is feet, when he saw a carriage coming toward him. He tried to focus his sight, but suddenly had a headache. That hit on his head was harder than he thought.

His vision blurred when he saw three men, or six, hovering over him. The robe around his feet was cut through, but instead Percy's hands were in chains. He tried to resist, only to be smashed into the ground by two men. _If only I had my sword... _he thought before losing consciousness again.

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**[A/N]: Thank you for the views, reviews, follows and favorites! It really helps me a lot ;D Next chapter will be updated as soon as possible! My question to you guys is: what/which couple(s) should I use? You can choose out of these: Percabeth, Jasper, Jeyna, Thalico, Perlia, Frazeleo, Lazel, Frazel or/and Pertemis. ;)  
**

**I'll try to make the chapters longer ;) If you have any tips for me, please say so! I want to improve my writing ;) 'Till next time!**

**Xx Anny**


	3. Chapter 2: A Royal Slave

**Chapter 2: A Royal Slave**

Forming a plan after a concussion

When Perseus opened his eyes, he could feel that he was in a riding vehicle. He wanted to open his eyes, but had a sudden headache. He tried to think about what had happened. Suddenly, he remembered. He cursed silently, hoping no one had heard him. He didn't have such luck.

"He's up", a woman said not so far from him. He groaned and opened his eyes.

He had to adjust his eyes to the sunlight, before he could see again. He found himself in some sort of cage. He tried to get up, but couldn't because of the dizziness. A hand grabbed him by his arm and helped him get up. He glanced up and stared in a boy's pitch black eyes. He muttered a small thanks and scratched the back of his head.

Looking around him, Percy saw that he was sharing the cage with 5 other people. The boy who had helped him getting up, had dark hair, like himself, and was really pale. You wouldn't think he was from around here. He wore a black ripped shirt and pants. He had a gloomy expression. Percy didn't think he would be that bad to hang out with though.

Sleeping on the boy's shoulder was a girl. Drool came out of her mouth. Percy just had to smile at the picture. They were really opposites of each other. She was pretty cute and had blond hair falling over face. She wore a white shirt and blue pants. No boots, just like the boy, covered her feet. Only chains, like all of them.

A boy filled the center of the cage. He still had fresh wounds covering his body. He had curly brown hair and didn't look like a fighter. Percy itched closer to the boy to look at the wounds. They weren't cleaned yet, so soon they would infect. Seeing one huge cut on his chest, Percy didn't think he would survive the week if that happened.

A man with dark hair looked distantly outside. Percy followed his gaze, but couldn't see anything worth looking at. Percy guessed the carriage was as riding on a bumpy road, as a shock went through the cage.

An older woman glared at him and he glanced back. She was around her 30's and had dark blond hair that was almost covering her waist. He could see a scar on her face and she had a firm build. Because of that she looked quite intimidating, if it wasn't for the wide grin on her face.

"Good morning sunshine", she said, still grinning. Percy said something really intelligent like: "Ughh". He blamed a concussion for that.

"Where am I?", he asked at last. She raised an eyebrow.

"I thought you'd be more smart. Oh well, we're in a _cage_". Perseus rolled my eyes on that. He wasn't that stupid.

"I mean, where are we going? Who are these people?", he gestured at the people surrounding the carriage. Other carriages with cages drove for theirs, with people and animals inside them. Percy already had an idea who these people were and where they were heading, but had to hear it for himself.

The woman gave him a sympathetic smile. "These are slave traders and we're heading to Rome, of course."

Percy sighed. "What happened?"

"Well, they found you unconscious a while ago. You looked like you were ravaged and robbed," _Not so far off, _Percy thought bitterly, "so they put you in chains and took you. They like boys your age, you know. Firm, strong and most of the time healthy. Slaves like that last longer and would automatically get them more money. What's your name, by the way?"

"Perc-", Percy stopped himself from saying his real name, "-ion." He sighed mentally in relief and congratulated himself for his fast thinking. His dead brother Orion didn't mind he used his name right?

The woman raised an eyebrow. "Percion? Well, that's a strange name. I already heard weirder names tho-"

A hiss went through the air and the woman winced. The point of a whip got her a cut on her arm. Percy glanced at the man holding the whip. He didn't look like the guy you would hang out on a Saturday evening. "You talk too much", he said with a lot of anger in his voice. Percy could see a glint of amusement in his eyes, though.

Percy clenched his fists but the gloomy boy put a hand on his shoulder and shook his head. Frustrated of his helplessness, he decided to put his attention elsewhere. He crawled toward the boy with the wounds and inspected them. He had a lot of cuts on his arms, but they weren't that serious. The cut in his chest was, though.

Percy looked at his own shirt and shrugged. He ripped off a long piece of his cloth and tried to bend it around the cut. It wasn't large enough to cover the wound completely, but it was better than nothing.

He went back to his original spot in the cage but had a hard time sitting still. He still tried to think about his options though. If he was found out in Rome, his survival chances would definitely be zero. He didn't like the thought of seeing his parents again that soon. He still had to avenge them.

Another idea formed in his head though. His mouth formed a slight grin. _There are a lot of things you can do in Rome and I was already heading there anyway. This is just a slight change of plans... _Percy leaned back against the cage and waited.

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**[A/N]: Whoa! Massive number of views! Thanks for the reads, follows, favorites and reviews! ;D Please, let me improve my writing by giving me some tips or something ;). Reviews really help me... The question from last chapter still stands: which couples should I use? Use your imagination ;P 'Till next time ^^**

**Xx Anny**


	4. Chapter 3: The Gloomy Boy

**Chapter 3: The Gloomy Boy**

Getting to know a fellow slave better

The carriage shook less hard now that they were almost there. Percy could see the city wall already. They had passed a lot of people along the way. A boy around 14 years old joined the cage a little while ago. He refused to talk to them, so Percy didn't know his name. All he knew was that the boy had run away from home. He felt sorry for him. He knew from experience that it was hard to survive on your own.

Along the way, the blonde girl had woken up and introduced herself as Piper. Percy guessed she didn't want to say much about herself, so didn't push too much information about her. The gloomy didn't say anything during the travel. He almost thought he couldn't speak at all, but that wasn't the case. He probably just didn't want to talk about himself. Percy didn't blame him. He felt the same.

The dark blond haired woman didn't talk after that incident. She'd only introduced herself as Susan and said the gloomy boy was Nico. The boy grunted as she'd said that. Susan didn't say anything about herself, or Nico, so after a while, they were all silent.

The brown haired kid still laid in the center of the cage. He was sometimes muttering some words, but Percy couldn't hear them. He had a strong fever and Percy guessed his wounds had begun to infect. When he had asked one of the guards if someone could aid him, he got whipped. _Unreasonable Romans... _He and the 14 year old kid had aided him, as far as they could, but he was still feverish. Percy could guess he wouldn't got to see the morning if he wasn't properly aided.

Before he knew it, they were in front of the enormous gate of Rome. Percy could hear more people talking as they continued. Yelling, to sell some of their goods. After a short inspection, they were behind the city wall. His eyes widened. Rome reminded him of Athene, as it were before the Roman empire: beautiful buildings and really crowded. They had to stop a lot of times, just because it was crowded. He could hear a lot of annoying grunts every time.

The carriages stopped for the sixth time since they'd arrived in Rome. Percy could hear a horn in the distance, but didn't know what it meant. Everyone around them started bowing as another carriage made way through the crowd, dividing it into two. Percy guessed they were royalty. When they were gone, people started talking and, most of all, shouting again. They moved further toward the market.

Percy leaned to the gloomy boy. "Hey, do you know who that was?" He didn't expect an answer though, just like the last five times he tried to talk to Nico.

To his surprise, Nico answered. "That was probably the princess making her usual trip across the city. Princess Thalia had pleaded to the king if she could do that. 'To increase the bond between the citizens and them'", Nico rolled his eyes, "as if it helped."

Percy nodded at that. He knew from stories that the citizens weren't that happy with the king. Especially because he eliminated every 'threat' that crossed his path. Percy could relate to that. Realizing something, Percy frowned. "But how do you know that?"

Nico cursed behind his breath. "Uh, I - Ehm... You haven't told anything about yourself, so why should I?" Percy raised an eyebrow on that. It was true that he hadn't said anything about himself, where he had a really good reason for, but that Nico was really hiding something. He sighed.

"Alright, I'll tell you my story, if you tell me yours", Nico frowned on that. After a moment of silence he finally spoke up, but not too loud, so that the guards couldn't hear them.

"I know that because Thals and I were actually really good friends", Nico had a far away look in his eyes and Percy guessed they were actually more than friends in Nico's eyes. "My father and the king had a really good relationship, they were almost like brothers, so that way Thalia and I could see each other quite a lot. It would surprise you how stubborn she is sometimes", Nico sighed, "anyway, somehow my father was suspected of high treason and I'd fled. I haven't been to Rome ever since. And that was one year ago. She's probably forgot me already. I wouldn't blame her."

Percy nodded in understanding. "And how about Piper?"

"What about her?"

"How did you get to know each other?"

Percy could see that Nico was reluctant to answer the question, but he answered anyway. "Well, a month ago I was attacked by some drunken dudes. They didn't kill me, of course, but I got a nasty wound from one of them. I collapsed and when I woke up, I found myself in Piper's house."

Percy looked at Piper in confirmation and she nodded. "It wasn't really a house... More of a shack. I found him somewhere in a corner. I guessed no one would help him if he'd just laid there, so I helped him. You see, my village is really small, but the people there aren't friendly. They were often angry at my father and me, since my father is in charge of the taxes for Rome. Anyway, after Nico was healed, that was a few weeks ago, a tax-collector demanded more money. Since we didn't have any, I was sold as a slave. As was Nico, since he didn't want to leave me alone. I still have to thank you for that Neeks."

"It was just a way of repaying my debt to you! AND DON'T CALL ME NEEKS!", Nico half screamed, half whispered.

Percy chuckled at the little exchange. A weird couple, that was for sure. No, not a couple. They were just like siblings. Percy's smile faded as he thought of Tyson, his little brother. He was only 2 when the Romans invaded and he was only 2 when he died. Percy shook his head. _Not the time to think about dead siblings, Perseus. _

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**[A/N]: Hellooo ;D This story has 360 views, 7 reviews, 8 favorites and 14 followers! There is only one reaction to this: Holy Poseidon! I mean really.. You guys are awesome! Major thank you to everyone who read this, reviewed, followed and favorited :D You always make my day ;). **

**As for the couples, the question still stands, but I already have an idea how the romance will be in this story ;P. Just you wait! 'Till next time ^^  
**

**Xx Anny**


	5. Chapter 4: The Arrival of a Legend

**Chapter 4: The Arrival of a Legend**

A name is only a name, but skill, that's what makes the man

"So, I've said my story, now you should tell yours", Nico said to him after they were done with arguing. Percy frowned. He was really reluctant to tell his story to anyone, even if that one just told him everything he should know about him. Well, not everything. But Percy decided not to push him too much. He had been through a lot.

But so did Percy and he didn't want to get killed before he could avenge his family. If anyone he couldn't trust heard his story, he would get killed within ours. Unless he was _there_. It wasn't that he didn't trust Nico and Piper, but if anyone overheard them... All his effort would be for nothing. And everyone around him would be killed again.

"Alright, but keep everything to yourself, okay?", he whispered to them, "Otherwise you could get yourself killed -"

The carriages stopped and the doors of the cages were opened. A man around his fifties gestured them to walk outside. As he walked out of the cage, Percy finally got a chance to breath some fresh air. It was really moldy in that cage. Another man grabbed the chain between his hands and pushed him forward. _I can walk for myself, _Percy grunted, but he didn't say a thing. As for now, he had to keep their attention from him.

He was attached to a giant pole. The chains forced his arms to stretch toward the ceiling. They did the same to the other slaves. Even the brown haired kid. Percy felt sorry for him. He would be dead within hours if things continued like this. After a few minutes, potential buyers filled the crowd. Inspecting the animals and slaves. Percy could see some money exchanges and slaves being released from their chains, only to be locked up in another cage.

Eventually, a man wearing a toga looked at him in awe. He walked up to Percy and inspected him. What he saw? A 17 year old boy with raven black hair and sea green eyes. Percy was muscular for his age, from all the fighting, and was clearly a lot more healthy than most of the slaves. A grin covered his face when Percy narrowed his eyes in disgust.

"What's your name, boy?", he asked. His voice was deep and demanding.

"Livius", Percy said without hesitation. Behind the man, he could see Nico glaring at him confused. Percy didn't care. Names were nothing in this world. He found that out while he fought for his life. Names could help or destroy you, in Percy's case destroying. It was his skill that helped him survive, not his name.

So after a while he went by many names, including Livius. He heard from some people that it meant "to envy", he envied the Romans, and "blue", he loved the color blue. He didn't know if what they said was true though, but he liked the name.

"How old are you Livius?"

"17"

The man poked stick on his biceps to check if he was strong enough. Percy didn't even flinch. The man nodded and went to other slaves, inspecting them the same way he just did to Percy. After he was done, he talked to the sellers and gave him a sack of golden coins.

His chains were unlocked, so as six more other's. Including Nico's. He couldn't see Piper, Susan, the 14 year old boy or the brown haired kid anymore. They were probably already sold. The seven of them were forced to go inside another cage and went away from the market.

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Percy could already hear the clashing of swords and the fighting screams. When they passed the gate, the doors were closed behind them. Someone locked them and Percy could see multiple guards standing outside. The carriage stopped and the slaves stepped out of the cage. Percy looked around him.

The place was a fighting ground. Men were sparring with wooden swords, others with real swords. A middle aged guy screamed out in pain as his sparring partner stabbed a sword in his gut. Percy looked away as his head was cut off.

The man in the toga spoke up, so everyone could hear him.

"Everyone! You will all die. There is no doubt about that. Only you can decide when or where! In the next few days you'll be trained on these grounds. Tested to become a great warrior. To kill or be killed! Only the finest men will face their death in front of the crowd. I'll be watching", he said before turning is back on them and walking toward the tower in the middle of the training ground. _Some happy speech huh..._

Before they knew it, they were given shirts to fight in. To Percy's pleasure, they were blue. He grinned while putting them on. Nico just frowned at the shirt, wanting his black shirt back, even if it was ripped, before putting it on. Blue really didn't suit him.

"Livius!", Percy turned and saw a guard gesturing him toward another slave. Percy knew what it meant and walked toward them. He got a wooden sword from the guard. His opponent had blond hair and a scar on his face. His blue eyes were glaring confidently at Percy. "Livius versus Luke, the fight starts now!"

They began circling around each other, inspecting their opponent. Suddenly, Percy couldn't stand it anymore and charged Luke. The wooden sword swinging through the air with Luke's head as its goal. Luke easily parried his attack. His left foot stepped forward, so Luke's sword had more speed. Aiming the back of his head, Luke made an attempt to knock Percy out.

Just on time, Percy dodged by ducking forward. He made an 180 spin, aiming his sword at Luke's stomach. Again, Luke dodged. Luke brought his sword to Percy's right hand. Before he knew it, Percy lost his grip on the sword and had Luke's sword at his throat. Luke grinned. "I win" Percy grinned back and looked at the guard. "I yield."

The guard gestured him to rest. Percy saw Nico sitting in the shadows and walked toward him. He could see the guard taking Luke to the forges. His scream topped the other sounds in the training grounds.

Percy smiled to Nico, who just adverted his eyes. Percy could sense he was angry at him. He sat next to him.

"Who are you?", he asked after a moment of silence.

"Names don't matter"

"I told you mine, tell me yours. You own me your story"

"I know"

"So, tell me"

Percy frowned. Should he tell him? Luckily they were out of hearing distance, but there could always be someone hiding, who would overhear their conversation. And they would both be dead. "It's a long story."

"Then tell me the shorter version. You own me that much!"

"Fine. I'm Percy", truth, Nico didn't ask for his lineage or full name, "and I'm Greek." Nico didn't seem surprised. _Am I that obvious? _"My family died when during the invasion of the Romans in Athene", still the truth, "and I too had to flee. That was when I was 8. I've been living on the streets ever since."

Nico nodded at that. "And why were you so unconscious when they found you?"

"Got robbed... I still have a enormous bump on my head"

"Is that why you're so stupid?", Nico asked Percy innocently.

"Shut up!" Nico grinned.

Percy saw Luke walking out of the forges. He had a pained expression on his face. Their eyes locked and he started to walk toward Nico and Percy. When he stood before them he held out his right hand, grinning widely.

"You've got nice reactions kid."

Percy took his hand and shook it. "Likewise. That disarming technique is truly magnificent."

"I could teach it to you if you want?"

Grinning, Percy nodded. "That would be great. I'm Livius." Percy didn't want to reveal his true name to him yet. Not before he knew he could trust the guy.

"I know, I'm Luke."

"I know."

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**[A/N]: Holy mother of Zeus! (That would be Rhea, by the way...) 633 (!) views, 9 reviews, 10 favorites and 17 followers! Let's go to the 15 reviews and 1000 views alright? ;D I seriously love you guys! **

**I figured Livius would be a good shelter name for Percy... If you have any other suggestions, please shoot! (Not literally, of course *ehem*) 'Till next time ^^**

**Xx Anny **


	6. Chapter 5: People Change

**Chapter 5: People Change**

How much people change, depends on the situation they're in

"Nico versus Livius, Start!", the guard yelled after Nico and Percy had both grabbed their swords. The unbalanced iron swords made a low hissing sound as they cut the air. A loud "clang!" as they met each other in mid air. Dark eyes met sea-green before they backed away. Percy smirked. He would so win this...

Nico charged him with a small battle cry, trying to cut Percy's head off. Percy blocked his attack and pushed Nico's sword away. For one second, Nico was slightly unbalanced. That one second was enough for Percy. He punched Nico with his left hand, pushing Nico toward the ground.

As he fell, Percy twisted his sword in his hand to change its angle. He made a move to thrust his sword in Nico's gut, but Nico already started to roll away. Because of that, he thrust his sword into the ground. It was stuck.

Nico took advantage of that and stabbed his sword in Percy's back, but Percy dodged just in time. He continued dodging as Nico made a strike after strike. The sword still stuck in the ground. Nico's sword came down on him. Percy knew he wouldn't be able to dodge this time. He crossed his arms to block the attack. Skillfully, he changed the sword's direction so he wouldn't get any serious wounds.

Percy grabbed the blade and pulled it toward him. The force was too much for Nico. He released the sword. Percy threw the sword in the air beautifully, grabbed it by the hilt, pointed it at Nico's throat and grinned. Nico sighed. "I Yield."

They put the swords away with Percy still grinning. "I told you I would win."

Nico smiled at him. "I had my chances. Luke trained you well."

Percy frowned at that. He didn't like Luke one bit. It was true, they had been training each other since that first day and Luke taught him a lot. It was just that Percy had a feeling they had met before, but he didn't know where. When he asked Luke about it, he just shrugged it off and said he couldn't remember. When he asked more about his past, Luke would turn all grumpy and said he didn't want to talk about it. _Not cool._

"You should get your arm checked, by the way." Percy looked at his arms. There was a huge cut in his right arm. Maybe he hadn't been that skillful back there. He wanted to go to the infirmary, but was stopped by a voice from behind them.

"Livius. Nico."

They turned and saw a guard staring at them. "You are requested in the forges." Percy nodded. The forges. Luke had been there that first day and got the Mark of Completion, as the slaves would call it. Nico and Percy glanced at each other before going toward the forges.

* * *

They sat at their usual spot in the shadows and looked at their burns. It had hurt a lot, but now they'd got their mark. Percy's was on his right shoulder. An image of a sword began to form through the burns. The same image was beginning to appear in the palm of Nico's left arm.

Percy could still feel his skin burning, but ignored the pain. He looked at the training grounds and saw Luke fighting another slave. He had black hair and even from this distance he could see the beard on his chin. He looked muscular, but Percy could see he was fast.

Luke was having trouble fighting the man. He wasn't as strong as the man, so he used his speed as his advantage. Circling around the man, slicing when he could, he stood his ground. Finally, he jumped and cut off the man's head. Percy looked away as the head bounced on the floor. Luke wearing his wicked grin. Now he _really _didn't like Luke. _One day you have to do that too, Perce, _he said to himself. He hoped he would never have to go that far.

"You didn't have to do that you know", Percy said when Luke was close enough to hear him. Luke looked at him. A crooked smile appeared on his face.

"I didn't"

"Then why did you do that?", Percy asked him with narrowed eyes. Luke shrugged and left, earning a heavy sigh from Percy. "He really should stop doing that."

"Uhu", Nico said.

"I don't get why he does that!"

"Uhu"

"Have you ever heard about his past?"

"Uhu", Percy raised an eyebrow and looked at Nico, who was staring forward, frowning.

"Nico?"

"Uhu"

"NICO!", Percy yelled. A bewildered Nico looked at Percy confused.

"Did you say something?"

Percy sighed. "What is wrong, Nico?"

Nico waited a minute before he answered. "I just- I don't know - I wonder if I'll ever see her again." Percy didn't have to be a genius to know that 'her' was Thalia Grace, or the princess of the Roman Empire if you're formal. Percy didn't like the thought of his best friend getting the girl, whose family he wanted to kill. He couldn't live with that.

"You'll see her. You just have to survive this shithole, but knowing you you'll be fine. Just remember you'll see her in a whole different way. Believe me in that. I mean, she will be watching you fight for your life while she is laying in one of those stupid little sunbeds, eating a grape."

Nico frowned and turned to Percy. Anger flickered in his eyes. "She's not like that."

"How would you know? You haven't seen her in one year. People can change in one year."

"You don't know her. As I said before, she can be really stubborn. Even if it's toward her family. Or, especially toward her family. You'll see that for yourself if you met her." A bell rang in the distance. "But for now, let's eat."

* * *

That night, Percy woke up in a start. Sweat was all over his body. He looked around, hoping that he didn't wake anyone up. Luckily, they were all laying peacefully next to each other. It was weird that some of these people could die the next day. He still couldn't get used to that fact. The moment he did, he would be just like them.

_Die. Slaughter. Invasion. Romans. _He thought bitterly. How many nights have passed since he last had a night without any dreams about his past? About that day nine years ago? After so many years, it was still the only thing that was reminding him of the fact that he had to revenge his family. His father. His mother.

_Mother. Night. Scar. Luke. _Realization struck him. Luke Castellan. The traitor who was responsible of the death of his mother. But he was dead, right? There was no way he was alive. He saw him collapsing himself! He still couldn't get that image out of his head though. The scar that was seen in the dark. That wicked grin he had seen that night. The wicked grin on Luke's face after a bloody fight. It was the same.

He laid down and closed his eyes. He remembered his own words earlier that day: _People can change in one year. _ If people change in one year, how much do they change in nine? Luke was a slave now, bounded to die. What did he do to get that far? What did he do to change his fate? After pounding on that question for a while, Percy went to sleep again. Only to have on thing in his mind: _His answer will decide mine._

* * *

**[A/N]: Well, here's chapter 5! Presented to you with on a golden plate ;P And seriously, when I said 1000 views, I really didn't expect it that soon! I say it every chapter and I say it again: you guys are fudging awesome! ****  
**

_**The couples are decided by the way. I just don't know how I will present them. So please give me your opinion on this... **_

_**1. In this story: Percabeth, Thalico and minor Jiper, and then in a sequel (even though it is set at the same time): Jiper, Frazel, Leyna and minor Percabeth.**_

_**2. All of the couples in one story, which makes the story automatically longer.**_

_**3. One story with Thalico, Percabeth and Jiper.**_

**To awesomeness: Thanks ;) I thought that maybe it would get annoying if I answer reviews all the time, so I intentionally didn't do that at first. But now that you put it this way, I'll do it again ;). Just not every review xD**

**'Till next time ^^**

**Xx Anny**


	7. Chapter 6: An Unexpected Confession

**Chapter 6: An Unexpected Confession**

Having a small talk with your master

Being woken up in the morning after a long night, wasn't on Percy's top 10 best things. Percy groaned and wanted to keep sleeping, but was forced to stand by someone. Percy opened his eyes, but had to adjust them to the sunlight first before he could see normally.

Two men stood before him. They had chrome armor on and each had a helm on their heads. Percy frowned. _Why are those soldiers here? Am I found out?_ Percy saw that they were chaining his hands to the other slaves. He narrowed his eyes at the chains. Imperial Gold, he guessed, extremely hard to break.

He looked around him. The other slaves were muttering curses because of the time they were woken up. Especially the new ones. Others just looked around them, finding answers. Percy locked eyes with Nico who a look on his face that said: 'what the hell is going on?'

Percy shrugged and tried to gather some clues by looking at the golden armored man who was arguing with the headmaster. He looked like he was the leader. Pictured on his armor was an eagle, spreading its wings. A red cape was covering his back and in his right hand was an Imperial Golden sword, like every high-ranked Roman soldier had these days.

"How dare you take my slaves without any permission?!", Chiron, the headmaster yelled at him. It was truly a sight to see, since he normally didn't get angry. Percy would like him, if it wasn't for the fact that he bought him on the market that day. He still didn't know if it was a good of a bad thing that had happened. Percy took it as a bad thing.

"They weren't your slaves to begin with. The only reason you're permitted to buy them, is so they can fight in the arena. You haven't brought in any slaves since last month. You can't expect the king to ignore this fact, can you?"

"They weren't ready", Chiron replied. He looked like he could slice the man's throat in pieces. Percy smiled at the thought. He would gradually help him with that. As soon as he thought that, he shook his head. _What's happening with me? I should only kill those who've done bad things. I don't know anything about this guy. As far as I can see, he's only doing his job._

"They weren't ready, my ass! Soldier!", the man yelled at the closest soldier near him, "how many of them have the mark?" The soldier talked with another soldier before answering. "24 out of 67, sir." The man nodded his thanks and turned to Chiron again. "24... That's quite the catch. We'll take them. You can keep your new slaves. I expect you to train them. I'll come back for them in two weeks", he ordered.

Chiron clenched his teeth, but backed off. Soldiers released the chains again and sorted the slaves in two groups. Percy looked at the 23 slaves before him. He could see fear in some of their eyes. He smiled at them reassuringly. That they got the mark, didn't exactly mean they were warriors. It meant that they could fight before dying and Percy wasn't a fan of that idea.

Before soldiers started to chain them together again, Chiron stopped them. Percy thought he looked at him for a second before looking at the guy in golden armor. "Let me speak to one of them in private. After that, you can take them." The man frowned, but nodded after a few seconds. A small smile appeared on Chiron's face and he looked at Percy. "Livius, come."

Percy followed Chiron away from the soldiers. He didn't like that he was in the spotlight. He could feel that some soldiers were still glaring at him, like they knew him. Percy really hoped that wasn't the case. It wasn't a part of his plan to be recognized.

When they were out of hearing distance, Chiron finally stopped walking and looked at Percy. By his surprise, Percy could see sadness in his eyes. "I don't know why you were here, but I admire your bravery, lord Perseus." Percy backed away a little, frowning. _How?!_

"W-what are you talking about?"

"I know who you are, my prince. I can recognize a child of Greece when I see them."

"Then why -"

"You probably had a good reason for coming here. I thought you would die, if bought be the wrong person. You are the last heir of Greece. We can't afford to lose you too."

Percy looked away, but then looked back as realization struck him. "You're Greek?" Chiron chuckled at his inability to think faster and nodded. "I've moved to Rome a year after they took over Athene, but I'm Greek with heart and soul. The first few years were hard, but I've managed my way through the system. Not knowing I would still be a slave to the system now..." Chiron grunted the last part and frowned.

Percy raised an eyebrow. "What do you mean?"

"If I were a free man, I wouldn't have trained all those slaves, only to have them die. I would've started a camp to teach children how to survive, or would've started a group of men who loved riding horses and named them 'the Party Ponies'." Percy couldn't help but snicker at the thought. A group of grown muscled men, riding horses, who called themselves the Party Ponies. Chiron saw Percy snickering and added: "Forget the last part."

Percy grinned devilish and Chiron narrowed his eyes at him before grinning too. He looked behind them and saw that some soldiers had started to get impatient. He went all serious-mode again, to Percy's distaste.

"Cover your face when you're fighting. The king and his family could easily recognize you. Believe me, you look a lot like your father." Percy nodded in thought. That was certainly true. From what he still knew from his father wad that he looked like an older version of Percy. And that wasn't always good. "I trust you in your judgment, my prince, but please don't be reckless. Accept this tip from an old man."

Percy smiled. "You're not that old, you know."

"In my heart I am. Now go, my lord, the soldiers are getting impatient."

Percy nodded. "When we meet again, please call me Percy. I hate that formal stuff." Chiron smiled and nodded before going back to the soldiers, Percy following his feet. When they were all chained up, the man in golden armor gave Chiron a small bag of coins. Chiron grimaced, but took it reluctantly, probably thinking he couldn't get more.

Percy glanced at Luke, who was standing in front of him. He wanted to confront him about his past, but thought of Chiron's words. '_Don't be reckless.' _He would only get more attention to himself if they talked about it now. Not to mention that he would get on Luke's bad side. Percy sighed and accepted that he had to restrain himself from asking.

When they were put in cages, they took off. Luckily, Nico was in the same cage as Percy was. _Just like old times. _Nico shifted his weight a multiple times before saying something. "What did the headmaster say?"

Percy waited a few seconds before answering. "He said that I shouldn't be reckless."

Nico snorted. "You're always reckless."

"That's not true!", Percy exclaimed.

"Yes, you are. Don't try to deny it. When you attack, you have lots of openings. When you defend, you have lots of openings. And when you talk, you have lots of openings", Nico said while grinning.

"HEY! I'm not reckless, I'm -", Percy stopped his defense as he felt a sharp pain in his back. He looked behind him and saw a soldier holding a whip. Percy winced as the whip went down again, leaving a longer cut now. Percy felt blood come out of his back, but refused to give a sound. The soldier continued his actions a few times, before saying: "Stop talking."

Percy gave him an angry glare, but didn't do anything. The soldier returned to his former duties. Nico looked at him concerned, but Percy shrugged it off. He didn't need any sympathy now. His back hurt a lot though. He glared at Nico who had a look on his face that said: 'Not reckless huh?' Percy groaned. This was going to be a long trip.

* * *

**[A/N]: And here is chapter 6! Presented to you on a hot plate with an apple in its mouth and lettuce beneath it. ;P Please tell me what you thought about it ;) Btw, I just HAD to mention the Party Ponies... They're awesome! Or using a bad haiku from Apollo: **

_**Men riding horses**_

_**They are the Party Ponies**_

_**They are so awesome!**_

**Sorry. That was just me being weird... I still have the same question as last chapter btw ;). Thanks to everybody who read this! I'm overwhelmed with joy, which helps me write ;D**

**To awesomeness: THANK YOU! Finally some helpful advice xD I know from myself that I have little experience in writing fighting scenes, and that I'm bad at it, so I really appreciate it! I'll work on it as much as I can ;).**

**To Di Blythe: Haha ;P It was actually not meant as a cliffhanger, but I'm glad it worked that way *me being evil* :P Here's the update! **

**'Till next time ^^**

**Xx Anny**


	8. Chapter 7: Complications and Suspicions

**Chapter 7: Complications and Suspicions**

Trusting somebody who you don't know

Percy. Couldn't. Stand. It. They had been riding for what seemed like a very long time and they weren't allowed to speak with anyone in the carriage. _Is Rome that huge, or is it just me? _And of course, somehow Percy just couldn't sit still for such a long time. He had had that all his life. So sometimes he had started standing in the carriage, trying to walk around, only to be forced to sit again (with the help of a whip, _not _Percy's favorite weapon).

The same had happened when he started to talk with others. Blood was still leaking from his back and arms and Percy winced in pain. He was given some sympathetic glares from the other slaves, but he could see that most of them were thinking he was stupid. _Okay, maybe I am. But I can't do anything about it, okay?_

Suddenly, the carriages stopped, the cages were opened and the slaves were allowed to leave, which Percy happily did. Until he saw where exactly they were dropped. He groaned mentally. _Not again. _Before they could walk outside properly, they were put in a cage again. This time everybody was put in one huge cage.

Their view? At one side there was an enormous forum, crowded with people. At the other... Well, there was no way Percy could describe the other side. If you didn't take much attention to it, it would just be a wall from a building. But if you looked up, you could see signs from the outer wall from the Colosseum. How Percy knew about the Colosseum? Well, it was hard to _not _know. People from around the world came to Rome, only to see a fight in the Colosseum. Or to see a massacre, if you thought about it that way.

"Just sit down Liv", Nico told him after he had let out a deep sigh. Percy didn't like him calling him Liv, but it was better than him calling him Percy, or Perce on that matter. _Wait. Why am I still standing?, _Percy asked himself confused. _Oh well. _He sat down in one of the corners, next to Nico, and immediately started twisting his thumbs. "Seriously dude, what's wrong with you?", Nico asked him concerned.

"Nothing", Percy muttered. He didn't want to talk about it. Instead, he looked at Luke, who was sitting against the cage door. Smiling, while looking up. _Why is he smiling? He is looking at the Colosseum, the place where he would definitively be killed. Does he want to die? Or does he have a plan? _For a while, Percy was asking himself whether or not to ask him, now that they were both weaponless. But his thoughts were interrupted by two slaves shouting at each other.

"How DARE you say that about my people?!", the first one shouted. He was glaring murderously at the larger slave before him.

"Your people? HA! _Your people _are already extinct! There are just some little groups now, roaming around the country. They are _savages _who kill others for fun! Why do you think we'd give them any other treatment?! They are better off dead than alive!", Percy narrowed his eyes at the guy. He remembered him as Ryan. He was pretty good with the sword, by far not on Luke's level though, but Percy just didn't like him.

He glanced at the smaller boy, who was biting his lips, so hard that there was blood streaming out of it, to suppress his anger. He didn't know the guy though. He had short black hair and brown eyes, which looked really tired. He was probably longer in the cage than them. He wore the normal 'slave clothes': A long cotton brown shirt, a belt around his abdomen and no shoes. Everyone in the cage had the same clothes. Some shirts had another color though, not that it mattered. Percy's, for instance, were blue.

"You're gonna pay for that _punk_!", he spoke out the word 'punk' as if it was poison and grabbed Ryan's throat.

"SHUT IT! BOTH OF YOU!", both of the guys looked at Percy in shock. Confused, the small dude released Ryan's throat and narrowed his eyebrows at his. His eyes then widened. He backed away and sat down again, much to Percy's surprise. But Ryan was not done. He spit the ground before the guy's feet and grinned. "I'll enjoy killing you _Greacus_!", well, that gave some reactions.

Percy saw Luke narrowing his eyes at the smaller guy, Nico raising an eyebrow at Ryan and some other slaves clenching their jaws. That was before Percy kicked in. He walked toward him and kicked him in his.. uhm... private area, before he could react. A high pitched note escaped Ryan's mouth before he fell on his knees. Percy knelt down and looked him in the eyes. Both of them looked at the other in pure hatred. Percy whispered something in his ear, before giving him a one-knuckle punch on his temple. Ryan fell unconscious on the ground.

Percy could feel 30 pairs of eyes looking at him, one of the narrowing his eyes on him. Percy locked eyes with Luke and returned the glare. They kept glaring at each other before someone broke the silence.

"Thanks, but I could take him myself", the guy muttered to Percy.

Percy shrugged and sat next to him. "Name's Livius, you?"

The guy raised an eyebrow on that, but replied anyway. His voice so silent that only Percy could hear him. "Chris"

"Well Chris, I think the best thing to do right now is to keep the attention away from you, don't you think? It could only lead to _complications_", he whispered back. Chris nodded and looked away. "How do you know who I am?"

Chris looked startled by the question. "You look like him. Your name is all over Greece, you know. Everyone is searching for you. If it is to kill you or to help you. Only a few are still hoping for freedom, many have given up. Just like in the surrounding countries. But there is one difference: we still have our king."

Now it was Percy's time to raise an eyebrow. "I'm no king. Not even royalty, since Greece is part of the Roman Empire now."

"You sound like you're giving up"

"I'm not"

"Do you have a plan then?

"For what?"

"Revolution, of course"

Percy had to think about that for while before answering. "I have a score to settle here in Rome, but not an actual plan. It would be much easier if more people wanted to be independent, back in Greece." He sighed. "But I guess you can't have all you want."

Chris seemed to think about something. "Maybe if I can get out of here, I can help. But security is tight here and then you have the fighting... For all you know we would both be dead tomorrow." He frowned, but smiled after thinking everything through. "If we both survive the fight tomorrow, I can try to escape. But I need your help with that."

The prince grinned. "Tell me what to do."

* * *

**[A/N]: Well, there you have it! Two days later than I had actually planned it, but school kicked in and you know.. Crisis! Anyway, it's fighting time! ;D I'll see if I can have chapter 8 up tomorrow (Thursday)... ;P**

**The question from last chapter still stands! I need your help on this xD I'm bad at making decisions...**

**I want to thank everybody who read, reviewed, followed or/and favorited this story! Especially Awesomeness (guest), because of the tips and compliments! It means a lot to me...**

**As for now this story has 2268 readers (me: O_O), 19 reviewers (me: ^_^), 21 favorites (me: $_$) and 26 followers (me: X_X), which gives me so much motivation to write! Keep this going! Pretty-please? *puppy eyes***

**'Till next time ^^**

**Xx Anny**

**PS: Worst. Under title. Ever. If I do say so myself xD**


	9. Chapter 8: To Entertain and Conquer

**Chapter 8: To Entertain and Conquer**

Conquering is more important than entertaining, right?

There was one thing Percy knew when they were put inside the Colosseum and that was that Chris didn't exaggerate when he said that they could die anytime. The tension before the fight was killing Percy. They could hear the crowd roaring in the distance, but couldn't see what was waiting for them. The doors suddenly opened and immediately Percy's helmet, which he had quickly snatched away on the armory table, was covered with the blood from the slave that was standing before him.

Percy ducked fast enough to dodge the ax flying at them. He could hear the hissing sound above his head. The enormous swing killed the two slaves next to him. He looked at the man holding it and charged before the man could regain his balance which he lost with the swing. Percy sliced the man's head off with his sword and dashed forward. He ignored the slashed that were targeted at him, so he could fight from a better

The others were busy fighting for their lives. Everyone was crowded in one spot, which made them an easy target. He could see Luke and Chris both dashing forward, trying to escape the chaos. Luke was cutting everything in his path with the sword he got to grab from the table a little while earlier. Chris used his net to capture his enemies and stabbed them with his spear, the weapons which he probably got used to since he was there.

His eyes searched for Nico, who was fighting two gladiators at once. He rushed in to help. He stabbed one man in his popliteal, one of the spots that wasn't covered with armor, causing the man to scream in pain and fall to his knees. He didn't bother to kill the guy and looked at Nico.

Nico had already got rid of the guy and was trying to get some space to get a good look at the situation. Percy figured he'd be okay and looked if others needed his help. He saw two of his fellow slaves named Sam and Dinian, Percy believed, being cornered by a gladiator. He dashed forward as fast as he could and blocked the long sword that was about to cut Dinian in two pieces. "Go. Work together with the others", Percy muttered at them as he pushed the sword away with much effort, "I'll take care of this guy." He didn't see the guys running off since the man sliced the sword at him, making Percy dodge.

The crowd roared in expectation as the man sliced again, and again, and again. Percy was surprised by the speed the man did it, as if the sword didn't weigh a thing. Percy dodged his strikes, but wasn't able to land a single hit.

Percy waited for the man to strike another time. When the man sliced at him, Percy pushed the long sword further toward the ground. The man seemed stunned about the sudden movement and subconsciously released the tension on his hilt a bit. Percy grinned and stood on the tip of the long sword, using its leverage to make it harder for the man to lift it, ignoring the pain of the sword cutting in his bare foot. He sliced his sword at the man's hands, making the man drop his sword. The man backed away and grabbed the extra sword on his back, but Percy was faster. He stomped the hilt of his sword in the man's neck, which made him struggle to breath for a moment, and sliced his throat in one fluent movement. The crowd cheered when he reached the ground.

Ignoring the pain in his foot, he ran toward the others. He could see 4 groups of around 5 slaves back to back, cutting gladiators when they reached them. He panted heavily when he reached them, stabbing a man in his neck as he did so. They could hear a loud horn in the distance and the gladiators all backed away. The crowd roared in appreciation.

For the first time, Percy looked up. It. Was. Enormous. There were more people in the crowd than he had ever seen before. Shouting and howling at them. He could see the three thrones, isolated from the crowd. In the distance, he couldn't recognize their faces, but he could already guess who were sitting on those thrones.

A man stepped forward. His toga barely hiding his belly and his hand held a wine glass. "LADIES AND GENTLEMEN!", he roared to get everyone's attention, "WAS THAT TO YOUR LIKING?!" The crowd yelled an enormous "YES" as response. "DO YOU WISH ANOTHER FIGHT?!" Another "YES" filled the Colosseum. "SO BE IT!" As he said - or yelled - that, the ground under the Colosseum shook.

Some pieces of the surface were being lifted, revealing an unusual pattern. Percy stood as quickly as he could on the pattern, just as the other slaves, as he saw that on the lower surface wolves were released. The ground on where he stood was so small that he was struggling to keep his balance.

A horn blew and Percy could see the gates being opened, revealing ten fresh gladiators. Percy looked at Chris, who was clenching his spear. Their eyes locked and Percy nodded. A spear was the best weapon you could have in this fight, as long as you kept your balance.

He counted the slaves that were left: nine. Percy grunted. _This could make things rather complicated... _They had lost many men in the last fight. And this fight was a hard one, so it could be possible that they wouldn't survive this day. Then suddenly, he got an idea. He whispered it in Nico's ear and he nodded. The same did he with Chris.

"LET THE FIGHT BEGIN!"

Percy jumped to the next surface. His foot almost got ripped off by a wolf, but he managed to reach it. He grabbed the beam-like surface to keep his balance and looked for his enemies. He could see one enemy a few feet next to him. Three wolves stood in their path. The man had a lance in his hand, giving him an advantage.

Percy took two fingers in his mouth and whistled. A spear pierced through the man's armor. Percy sprinted over the beam toward the man, while Nico took care of the wolves by throwing Chris' net at them. He jumped and landed right next to the man. Luckily, this surface was wider, so it took Percy less time to keep his balance this time. He stabbed the man in his neck with his sword. The man fell backward. Nico took back the net, while Percy regained Chris' spear just in time and threw it to Chris.

Chris, who was fighting another gladiator with Nico's sword on the surface next to Percy, grabbed the spear in mid-air, after throwing his sword to Nico. He pierced the gladiator with his spear.

Nico killed a wolf with his sword and jumped to the next surface. He nearly dropped off the surface if it wasn't for Luke, who gave him a hand. Luke grinned at him. "I can see where you're going." He threw his sword toward a gladiator, who was fighting another slave, killing him in instantly. The slave nodded his thanks and threw the sword back to Luke, making the gladiator fall. His body was instantly ripped apart by the wolves.

Meanwhile, Chris and Percy were attacking two gladiators from both sides. Nico rushed to them and threw the net above one gladiator's net. Chris finished the job by piercing the man in his heart with a spear. Percy sliced the other gladiator's throat. He heard a hissing sound above his head.

Percy searched his surroundings and saw a gladiator sending another arrow at him. This time, Percy had no choice but to let himself fall. His feet landed on the lower surface and four wolves surrounded him, growling. Percy gave them his best wolf-glare and attacked them. He would be dead by now, if it wasn't for Chris throwing the net on the two jumping wolves. Percy ignored the act and killed the other two wolves without hesitation.

He looked up and saw Nico lowering his hand for Percy to grab him. Percy saw the net being torn apart by the wolves, so it was useless now. He took the helping hand and climbed on the higher surface. He nodded Nico his thanks. "I'm okay now, help the others", he said before Nico took off.

Percy looked around him and saw the other slaves following his example. He counted them and saw that there were six left, while there were four on the gladiators' side left. He could see Sam and another slave on the same surface, fighting a gladiator. Sam was about to strike him down, when he gasped. An arrow was pierced through his shoulder. He fell backward, making the other slave fall with him. Percy saw Luke stabbing the gladiator in his stomach. Blood escaped his mouth as he fell too. He saw Nico jumping on the lower surface and helping the slave with the wolves. Another arrow went straight past Luke.

Percy sprinted toward the gladiator with the bow and arrows, jumping from surface to surface as he did that. An arrow went toward him while he was in the air. He turned his body a little, but the arrow still hit him in his left arm. He clenched his teeth and ignored the burning pain as he landed on the surface. He crouched to get him balance back. His arm hurt a lot, just like his foot from the last fight.

But he couldn't give up now. He jumped for the last time and landed on the gladiator. Both fell from the surface. While in the air, he pierced the man's neck with his sword. Two wolves neared him, smelling their food, with more to go. Percy tried to get his sword back, but it was stuck in the ground from the impact. He looked around him, looking for an escape. He saw a dead slave not so far away. Something was sticking out of his chest.

Without thinking, he dashed forward toward the slave. The wolves not so far behind him, were moving on him fast. He grabbed the weapon and pierced a jumping wolf in its belly. But more were to come. He took out the weapon and saw it was a giant fork. Or trident, he reminded himself. He ran toward a wall and pierced the trident into the ground. Then he used the trident to get on the higher surface. Just in time, because more wolves had surrounded him.

He grabbed the trident and lifted it up, so he could use it. He thanked the gods for that the surface where he stood was one of the wider ones. Percy looked around him and saw that the fight was almost over. The only one still fighting was Nico. He looked angry as he attacked the gladiator simultaneously, sending the man to his death.

Silence. No one said a thing. Then, the crowd howled at them. The wolves were led through the gates and the ground under Percy's feet shook again. The surface lowered, until the ground was even again. The crowd was still roaring, but Percy didn't look up. His eyes locked on the body near Nico. He ran toward them and knelt next to the heavily bleeding slave. Multiple wounds covered his body.

His eyes were looking at the sky when a weak smile covered his face. Percy grabbed his hand to let him know he was there. Chris didn't look at him when he said is final words. "I'm sorry"

* * *

**[A/N]: Here is the late chapter 8! Sorry that it took so long! It was my birthday yesterday (yay) and I couldn't finish it Thursday, so yeah... An extra long chapter to make it up for it ;). **

**I still don't know what I'll do, regarding the couples, so please keep giving your opinions! Since you guys are so awesome, I think your creative minds can think of something ;). Maybe a change in POV? Or wouldn't that fit in the story?**

**To awesomeness: Balance and leverage, you say? ;P And yeah, Chris was based off the Chris from the books, but he was still quite different, so I wasn't glad with the character. Oh well... One or more OC's are highly appreciated! So if you PM me, or leave it in a review, I'll definitely put him/her in some good use ;P. What did you think of this chapter, btw?**

**To the Baker: I'm glad you enjoy it! Thanks for the review and your opinion! **

**To guest (please just leave a name, okay?): Thanks for the complement! ;D I'm still trying to make the chapters longer, but I just finish with the chapter when I think it's finished... So I'm trying, but don't expect to much ;)**

**To Snickerdoodle22: Sorry for the wait! And thank you for the review ;D**

**'Till next time ^^, and don't forget to review ^w^**

**Xx Anny**


	10. Chapter 9: The Royal Family

**Chapter 9: The Royal Family**

Is doubting decisions wrong or not?

The crowd was quiet in shock. The slaves had actually won... Then they cheered, screaming and yelling at the slaves who just stood there. He watched it all with a frown on his face. The fact that there had been a second fight was because he requested it, because there were too many surviving slaves. Bacchus had just announced it to the crowd. He had expected for them to die. It was one of the most difficult set-ups they had.

Still, nine slaves had won against ten gladiators by killing them all. There were even three left! Oh well, this would only mean more entertainment for his guests. Something bothered him though. He had a feeling that he knew those three. Or at least the two who didn't have a helmet on. But he couldn't quite put his finger on it. And the one with the helmet... He had a strange feeling no good would come out from that kid.

His thoughts were interrupted by a voice next to him. "Is there something wrong, father?"

He looked to his right and saw his son looking at him. He smiled reassuringly at him. "No, it's nothing Jason." Jason raised an eyebrow on that, but focused his eyes on the center again. The slaves were guided out, probably going back to their cell. And tomorrow they would fight again. This time, they would die.

Suddenly, his daughter stormed away. Not before asking him to excuse her, of course. That was at least one thing that he could teach the girl. Still, she looked pretty upset about something. He had to admit that he wasn't the best father in the world. She had let him know that quite frequently in fact. But he could still sense that something was wrong.

He looked at Jason, demanding an explanation. He just shrugged. "She just kept looking at the game in shock. As if she knew someone who was fighting, or something..." The king frowned at that, knowing that Thalia knew something he didn't know. And that fact was something Zeus just couldn't overlook.

* * *

While Percy had been fighting the wolves, Chris had prevented a gladiator from attacking Percy. That had cost him his life. Not that Nico would tell him that. It was worse enough to see a comrade die. There was still something that bothered Nico. Percy wasn't telling him everything.

He frowned, thinking about that, when they were put back in their cage. He felt that Percy was depressed about something, but not only about Chris' death. No, it was much greater than that. But Nico would wait for Percy to tell him what exactly was going on. Since he too hadn't said everything to him.

* * *

Percy knew it was too much to ask. He sighed, knowing that sulking wouldn't get him anywhere. He had heard from the guards that more slaves would be arriving today. Apparently, the guards weren't all bad. Some had even given them some food after they had returned from the Colosseum. They still refused telling more about the new slaves though, or they didn't know much about them.

The market before them started to wake up. They could hear people screaming to buy their goods. More people started to fill the streets. Percy looked in awe at the beautiful city. Even if he hated it's rulers, that didn't mean he hated the city. It was astonishingly beautiful and it reminded him a lot of Athene.

For the second time, he sighed. Remembering his home made him feel all fuzzy inside. The many people who would happily become friends with the young prince. The place where his mother and he would get a drink, undercover of course, when he was having a bad day. And then that day when the warm feeling became cold. When screams filled the city. When both his parents died.

Percy knew he mustn't think about it that much. His old sword fighting teacher had always said that if he thought too much about the past, that he would be too distracted in a fight. But he just couldn't give up on it. It was like his life depended on it. As if he had no other reason to live. As if he would die if he accomplished it, or if he gave it up. He was trapped in the feeling of getting revenge for his family. But what if he got it? What would happen then?

Percy would often think about this fact. And now that Chris was dead, his chances were as slim as they were before. The chances of him not succeeding were getting bigger every day and he was just sitting here, inside a cage. Looking at the market that was now crawling with people.

In the corner of his eye, he saw Nico sitting up a little straighter, looking expectantly at the people before them. Percy followed his gaze and saw a carriage riding across the streets of Rome. People were dodging the vehicle and some were bowing. Percy realized it was the same carriage as the one that had passed them the first day they'd arrived at Rome.

The vehicle was coming towards them. That could only mean two things: he or Nico was found out. Or both. He sighed when the carriage finally stopped, not far from the cage. The people at the market yelled less harder and were paying attention at the one who stepped out. Guards were all around the carriage now, guarding it.

Percy could hear Nico gasping when he saw her. From his reaction, Percy knew in an instant that the one who he was looking at was the Princess of Rome, Thalia Grace. And you could say that she wasn't what he expected. She had black, spiky hair with a silver circlet on it. Her skull earrings matched her black dress with blue stripes on her waist. Her blue eyes inspected the cage, searched for someone. When she looked at Nico, her eyes widened. She ran toward the cage, ignoring the strange looks she was getting.

All by all, she _really _wasn't what Percy expected.

Even weirder was that she stole one of the keys a guard was holding and unlocked the cage. She disgracefully smashed the door open with her foot, making it slam wide open, and jumped Nico. _Okay, what the fudge? _Nico seemed just as surprised as Percy, but returned the hug Thalia gave him after a moment of hesitation. Then suddenly, she broke the hug and gave him a hard punch in his gut.

"OW!"

* * *

**[A/N]: Sorry if it is too short, but it is late here (the clock on my laptop says 23:29 *yawns*) so I decided to stop and try to sleep. Changes in POV this time. Please tell me if it's disturbing or not ;) I want to know if I can make more of those POV changes in the future or not. ;)**

**To awesomeness: Thanks! I'll see if I can fit him in the story! ;D Hagan sounds like a son of Athena, who is a male hunter of Artemis xD Though I still don't understand the whole height thingy... The thing is that I'm not from the US, which means we use different units (meters instead of feet). Oh well, not that it matters much... I hope that you like this chapter (personally I like it less than last chapter, but it is an important chapter for the story... Just like chapter 10) ;P**

**To Lmb111514: Sorry for killing Chris :'( Thanks for the compliment and the review! It really helps me with writing, you know...**

**To mimiklimmatt: Your wish is my command! ;P**

**Thanks to everyone who followed, favorited, reviewed and read the story! It really helps me build up my self esteem, which in return makes me want to write more! What it means for you: faster updates and longer chapters ;). So please review, follow or/and favorite and you'll be my best friend :)) **

**'Till next time ^^**

**Xx Anny**


	11. Chapter 10: Traitors and Failures

**Chapter 10: Traitors and Failures**

Having a chat in a cage full of criminals

"OW!"

Nico crossed his hands over his belly and looked at the princess, a lot of confusion written on his face. Percy couldn't blame him. He was still busy processing what just had happened. "What was that for?!", he asked her, not caring about formalities. Not that Thalia had done that. Still, some of the guards frowned at him in disapproval.

"That was for leaving me, you asshole!", Thalia yelled. Percy didn't have good emotion reading-skills, but he was pretty sure that Thalia was angry at Nico because he had left him. _Well duh... _

Nico didn't seem to have an answer ready for that. He just looked down, not meeting Thalia's gaze. He muttered a small apologize. Thalia sighed, probably knowing she wouldn't get more out of him, and smiled softly at him. "I missed you, Death Breath. What had happened to you?" _Good one, _Percy thought while he chuckled silently, _I didn't think of that nickname before, but it fits him perfectly._

Nico frowned. "Don't call me that"

Thalia rolled her eyes and then to look at him in concern. "My gods, Death Breath, you look like you've just had a trip to Tartarus itself! What happened?" She looked at some wounds on his arm, from yesterday. Percy noticed they were barely healing. Stupid of him that he hadn't notice it before.

He looked at his own body and saw that there were also still some open wounds on his arms and legs. He hadn't noticed getting them during the fight, but they did needed to get treated. It seemed Thalia agree with him.

"You should get those wounds looked at!"

Nico just rolled his eyes at her. "I'm a slave, Thals, not a royal. And to answer you question: fighting in the Colosseum pretty much explains my condition." Thalia frowned at him, but still waited for him to explain more. Nico saw it and sighed. "You know I would never have left you if I had another choice, _Pinecone Face_."

Thalia landed another punch in his gut and muttered a small "don't call me that". Even so, Percy could still see her blushing furiously at his words. He looked around him and saw Luke shifting uncomfortably, not trying to be seen. He caught himself doing the same thing, when the princess looked around the cage.

Percy shifted a bit in the shadows, hoping it would work. Luckily, her eyes seemed to lock on Luke. She frowned at him, while he had a sudden interest in the ground beneath them. Then, realization struck her. "Luke?"

* * *

Jason Grace paced across his room, ignoring the worried expressions the maids gave him. Since the fight in the Colosseum yesterday, he hadn't seen his sister at all. After she'd stormed away, she'd locked herself in her room. Even the maids hadn't seen her. Jason knew nobody dared to enter her room if she didn't want them to. Her temper tantrums equaled their father's and weren't something _anybody_ wished to see.

"Are you alright, Jason?", a voice behind him asked. He turned, furiously that somebody called him by his name. His anger went away, as suddenly as it appeared, when he saw the worried maid before him. Although she had only been one of his personal maids for a week, she was the only one who dared to treat him as her equal. And he surprisingly liked it.

"I'm just worried, Piper", he said before she hugged him. His eyes widened at her boldness, but he soon hugged her back, enjoying the warmth she was giving him. His head leaning on her's. He could already see her brown hair covering her blonde.

She had told him she'd dyed it when she was still at her hometown, when he asked about it. She seemed reluctant to tell him her past, so he hadn't asked more about it.

"She'll be fine", she muttered in his chest. After a while of them just hugging each other, she suddenly broke their embrace and bowed her head. Jason could see her cheeks being a darker shade of red then they were before. He could feel his cheeks getting warmer. "I'm sorry", she muttered.

A gentle smile went on his face. "It's okay Piper. I should thank you for that", his hand rubbed the back of his neck in embarrassment, "I guess I needed it."

Piper smiled at him, but before they could continue talking somebody knocked on the door. "Come in", Jason said before the door opened and another maid appeared with a frightened look on her face. "What is it?"

The maid took a second breath, before answering. "The princess is missing, my lord. She escaped from her room and took one of the royal carriages with the help of some of the guards."

* * *

Luke looked up, stood and locked his eyes with Thalia's. Percy could feel a small tension in the air and he guessed Nico felt it too. "Long time no see, princess."

Her look went colder and her body almost seemed to radiate small sparks. "Why are you here, _Castellan_?" Percy saw Nico flinch at her tone, but his attention was elsewhere. She had called him Castellan, so his suspicions must have been true. He gritted his teeth and had to clench his fists to contain his anger.

_Calm yourself, Percy, you still don't know much about him. _But he killed my mother! _Maybe he was ordered to do so? _That doesn't make him less guilty. He is still a traitor of Greece. _Why is he here then?_

With that statement, Percy seemed to calm down. His attention returned to the conversation before him.

"Can't you see what I'm doing here?"

Thalia narrowed her eyes. "All I can see is a _traitor _who cares only about himself", she walked up to him until they were just a few inches apart. "All I can see is a _pig _who sits in its well-deserved _cage_." She looked up to him. Her electrical blue eyes almost sparking with anger. "Now, _you _will tell _me _why you are back in Rome, since the last time I saw you was when you were banished _five years ago."_

Percy frowned at the new information. He hadn't heard anything about that, but it seemed that Luke wasn't all he appeared to be. He looked at Luke, who was clenching his fists, probably to contain his anger. "You know nothing of me, _princess._"

Thalia opened her mouth to reply, but was cut off by a loud "Thalia!". She turned and saw a boy stepping out of another royal carriage. Percy glanced at him. He had blond hair and the same eyes as Thalia. He was longer than her, but looked younger. On the corner of his lip was a small scar and on his arms were some battle scars. In an instant, Percy knew he was looking at Jason Grace, the heir of the throne of Rome.

When he reached the cage, he seemed a little out of breath. Percy guessed he searched whole Rome for Thalia. "Why didn't you tell me where you where going, Thals?! I searched whole Rome for you!" _You see? Why do people always say I'm stupid? I have awesome reading skills! _**(A/N: Sure, Percy... Whatever you say...)**

Thalia seemed out of words, before she sighed. "I just wanted some time alone..."

Jason looked around the cage, saw Nico, Luke and Percy (but didn't recognize them), and rolled his eyes. "As if... Thalia, you shouldn't go off like that. You got us worried sick!"

Thalia scowled. "_Us?!_ Indicating _who _exactly?"

"Our father and I", Jason said, but he seemed reluctant to continue the conversation.

"_Our father _wasn't worried! Why would he?! I'm just his stubborn little daughter who's in love with traitors!", she snapped at him.

"Thals, that's not -"

"Oh, just SHUT IT! We both know you are his favorite child! That I'm nothing but a failure to him", a tear escaped her eyes. Jason pulled her into a hug, waiting for her to sob on his chest, which she eventually did.

Percy frowned at the image before him. That really wasn't what he had expected from them at all... His will to take revenge seemed to crumble as he looked at the siblings. A faint memory of him crying in his mother's arms, made him shed a tear. He wiped it away and saw the Grace siblings going back to the carriages. The cage was locked again and it was dead silent.

* * *

**[A/N]: Sorry for the late update! It had some Jiper and Thalico in it :). I hope you liked it! **

**I have an exam week this week and guess what that means? More free time (since school is so easy these days that I don't have to learn)! And do you know what that means? More updates ;D I'll do my best this week ;). **

**I finally got a hold of HoH! I'm so excited to read it! But since I haven't _yet_, please refrain from any spoilers ;). Thank you :). **

**I want to thank everybody! I don't care if you just read, follow, favorite or review: it's all appreciated! I do love reviews though :3...**

**To PJoHoOFan: Thanks for the review! I hope you liked this chapter ;).**

**To Lmb111514: Thalia is just awesome ;P I hope this is how Thalia would react to these kind of things... Please tell me what you think about it ;). **

**To Di Blythe: I have to disagree on that one... YOU ARE AWESOME :D You completely made my day then! I had a goofy smile on my face all day, just because of your comment ;D. Here's the update and please tell me what you think about it ;P  
**

**To awesomeness: Thanks :D I've got a good look of Hagan now and will introduce him in the next chapter ;). Thanks again for the OC and if you have another that I can use, please ;P Thanks for the complement and I hope you liked this chapter ;).**

**'Till next time ^^**

**Xx Anny**


	12. Chapter 11: Spectators

**Chapter 11: Spectators**

Nothing is what it seems

Before Percy could say something to Nico or Luke, the cage opened again. Twelve slaves were pushed inside, before the cage closed again. Percy could see one of the guards nodding at him. Percy believed he was named Frank, who was the one who had told him that there would be new slaves today. Percy nodded back and looked up to the slaves before him.

They all looked trained and well, which was as expected. Apparently, Chiron wasn't the only one who trained slaves. Frank had told him that they were from a place they called the Wolf House, trained by a women called Lupa.

They all sat down in exhaustion and some rubbed the skin on their wrists, to ease the pain. Percy guessed their age was somewhere between 15 and 20, which was still pretty young. Not that that said anything, since Percy was 17 himself. If they were chosen, they could fight. Even if they were young.

An awkward silence hang in the air. Percy took an advantage of that and inspected the group. They were all guys, of course, since no one would want to see girls fighting in an arena.

Three guys were the body-builder types: a lot of muscles. Two had dark hair and one blonde. The blonde one was really small, so his body was complete out of proportion. One of the dark haired guys was huge, as if he was a giant or something.

Percy didn't think he was fast, though. With that enormous body, no one would be able to catch a running chicken. Percy snickered at the thought of the giant chasing a chicken as if it was his life.

The other dude was more lean and he looked like he had some serious skills.

Six of them were less muscles, more speed kind of guys. All around Percy's height, some smaller, and they looked like they could beat some gladiator's asses. Something they would have to do _very _soon, Percy guessed. Another guard, named Dakota, had said as soon as the new slaves would come in, there would be a new fight in the Colosseum. Percy already looked forward to it (_note the sarcasm_)...

There were two who looked absolutely terrified. Both scrawny and pale, making Percy wonder why they were there in the first place. That angered Percy a lot. _Why would those Romans make those two fight?!_

The last one was also the youngest one, Percy guessed. The kid just sat there, half hidden within the shadows. He was inspecting the others, just like Percy did. Percy looked at his face and their eyes locked. The kid frowned as he looked at Percy.

He had brown hair and eyes. A lot of scars from scratches covered his arms, and Percy believed they were also the rest of his body. He was pretty short, even for his age, but he has some kind of air around him that made him look older.

All by all, Percy liked this kid.

There were no times for introductions, though. The cage was opened for the third time that day and the slaves were brought to the Colosseum.

* * *

This time, the slaves were already positioned in the center of the arena. The crowd roared when they entered. The fifteen slaves stood there, random weapons in their hands. There had been no swords at the table, so Percy had grabbed the trident. Last fight, he felt a connection with the weapon. As if he was meant to wield it.

The doors opened and five chariots entered the arena. Behind him, Percy could hear a cracking sound of another door opening. He turned and saw another five chariots, with one riding and one fighting gladiator, entering the stage. An arrow pierced one of the riders, making him fall. The chariot bend to the left and crashed onto another chariot. Three other arrows hissed through the air and the gladiators dropped dead in their tracks.

Percy looked around him, searching for the source, when his eyes locked with the kid. The kid lowered his bow and searched for other victims. Percy smirked. _I knew he would be interesting..._

"Stick together!", the kid yelled to the other slaves, "Form a circle. Long-distant weapons out front! Shields; cover them." The slaves did what he said and soon they were all in formation, except for one.

The black-haired giant held his spear, fearless, but also unknowing about what was about to happen. Two chariots charged him, one charged him in the open, one from behind. Too late, he noticed the second chariot. A hatchet was stuck in the back of his head and he sank on the ground. Dead.

Another slave wanted to break out of the formation, but was stopped by Percy. He shook his head, gesturing that there was nothing they could do for him now. He looked around and saw that seven chariots charged them. The crowd roared in excitement.

* * *

Thalia Grace watched as the slaves went into battle. The blood was almost too much for her to handle, but she forced herself to keep looking. To keep watching over them. She recognized Nico, throwing a net over one of the fighters in the chariot. Another slave finished the job by piercing a spear into his chest.

The rider jumped out of that chariot and grabbed the sword of his fellow gladiator. He charged Nico, who was fighting now weaponless. Just in time, a trident was stuck in the rider's chest. Thalia released a breath she didn't know she was holding.

She looked sideways to her father. Zeus Grace looked at the fight with a smirk on his face. He seemed to enjoy the fight. Behind him, she saw Jason frowning and clenching his fist from time to time. He actually had a good sense of justice, even if he didn't dare to show that in public. Unfortunately, he also didn't dare to confront their father from his faults. Even if that meant that lots of people died because of that.

Thalia had talked, or rather fought, against their father about these gladiator fights a lot. He kept looking at the money he would make from these fights. The appreciation he got from the people from his empire. He didn't look at the other side of the story. The story she heard a lot when she traveled across the city of Rome.

That people were afraid to get caught if they talked about it too much, so Thalia would often escape the palace. Incognito, of course. That way, the people would open up more, even if they were still very cautious what to say and what not. But what they said, wasn't just something.

The people who didn't have a high status in the city, would often lose their homes. The taxes were too high. She also heard that people were often sold as slaves, to cover those debts. Others were put on the streets, with nothing left. Forced to survive by stealing from others, who because of that also didn't have enough money.

That circle of suffering was triggered by these fights. The money of the citizens were spend to train the slaves and gladiators. To pay for the guards and armory. In return, her father would get the appreciation of the people of Rome. At least the ones with high statuses.

Thalia just couldn't get the idea out of her head that the slaves who fought could also be citizens of Rome.

She saw her father nodding to Bacchus, before smirking. The guy, Thalia never really liked him, nodded to one of the people in charge of the doors. The ground under her feet shook, only because of that the blood hungry crowd stamped their feet on the ground. Her wine, which sat on the table next to her, almost spilled over the floor.

She looked back at the arena and what she saw made the blood in her veins run cold. The chariots were brought from ten to two, but not without losses. Ten slaves lay dead on the ground, while the others were highly wounded. She saw Nico holding his leg. Probably trying to stop the wound from bleeding.

But that wasn't what made her eyes grow twice their size. A newly opened door revealed a new gladiator. But she knew he wasn't a regular one. He was one of Zeus' champions, one of the best fighters in the empire. Who she saw was Hercules, her best friend's fiance.

* * *

**[A/N]: And done! Sorry, the exam week asked more of me than I thought it would... Oh well ;). I hope you liked chapter 11! I really can't believe I'm so far... I have the tendency to start something and never finish it... I swear on the Styx that I'll finish this story! *thunder booms over my head***

**I really love you guys for the support you give me! It really makes me happy when I see lots of mails in my mailbox. Love it ;D I love to explore the profiles of my reviewers and get to discover more stories! Thank you :D**

**To Jay-Goh: Thanks and I'll make Percy shine in the next chapter!**

**To awesomeness: I love OC's almost as much as I love cookies, so please ;D And yeah, sometimes I like to be a little hard on myself ;). Hagan has made his appearance, a little older than your description (otherwise he doesn't fit in the story), but not too much... He'll have more influence further on in the story ;). Hope you like it!**

**To PJOHoOFan: Humm... I think he'll introduce himself within five chapters, but I'm still thinking about it... I want to give him an epic introduction ;D**

**To Guest: HoH was awesome! ;) Too much Percabeth feels ;P (And another one of my ships has come true, but I won't spoil it for you ;))**

**To Di Blythe: Hahaha, thank you ;) I hope you didn't give your mother a headache, because of the screaming ;P More Jiper in chapter 13, I think, so stay tuned ;P**

**To Lmb111514: I checked out your stories this week (I think you've already noticed that) and I'm glad I did ;D Stay being awesome ;D**

**'Till next time,**

**Xx Anny**


	13. Chapter 12: Honor of a Slave

**Chapter 12: Honor of a Slave**

There is no honor in war, but is there in a fight?

The remaining two chariots retreated and Percy finally had a chance to check his wounds. He looked at his stomach and saw the blood streaming out of the wound. He clenched his teeth. It really didn't look good. He looked around and saw that the others, those who were still alive anyway, weren't in a much better condition.

Percy looked back to the chariots, but it seemed like they were waiting for something. Or someone. One of the gates opened and a man stepped out. The crowd went absolutely crazy. The stomping of their feet made place for the screaming of their voices. Until one word was heard from the voices of 50.000 people: "Hercules".

Now, of course had Percy heard of the undefeated champion, but he didn't expect him to make his appearance. He looked at the other slaves and saw them in the same chocked position as he was. He saw Luke clenching his fist over and over again, which made him wonder about his past for the thousandth time.

Hercules walked toward them, his sword ready. The crowd said his name every time his foot stepped on the ground. Until he stopped. The voices died down and Percy raised an eyebrow at the theatrics before him. As if he'd study his introduction before his mirror every morning.

He smirked at Nico. Percy looked sideways to see Nico gritting his teeth and narrowing his eyes in anger. He muttered Hercules' name beneath his teeth. A sadistic grin formed on Hercules' face. "Long time no see, di Angelo."

* * *

Shocked, Thalia looked at her father. "Why?!", she demanded.

For the first time, he looked at her. He frowned, as if he just remembered something important. "He is a traitor, Thalia."

Her eyes widened, before they narrowed. Her eyes went watery, but she refused to give in. She wouldn't have such a moment of weakness in front of her father. "You can't do that to me", was all she could say. "He didn't do anything wrong", her voice became louder and louder, "HE. IS. INNOCENT!"

Zeus narrowed his eyes at her. "You say that because of your feelings for him. You have no evidence."

"AND _YOU_ DO?!"

"Yes."

Thalia's eyes widened at that. Could it be that Nico lied to her? No, he wouldn't do that to her. She refused to believe this. "NO!" She shook her head. "You're lying!"

"I'm not lying, Thalia. I have proof that Nico di Angelo tried to help Hades escape from the Royal Cell a day after his trial. Even if he hadn't succeeded, I can't overlook it."

Thalia gritted her teeth. She just couldn't believe he had the nerve to say something like that about Nico. He just wouldn't do that. Not even... _No. _He would. Thalia knew he'd lost his sister that week. If he'd lose his father too...

_No. _She shook her head.

She shouldn't think like that. Even if he did do that, he shouldn't die for it. "I won't allow you to kill him."

Zeus sighed heavily. "That's why I sent Hercules. This way, he still has the opportunity to avoid his death by defeating him."

Thalia gritted her teeth, but knew fully well not to argue with that. She looked back to the fight. The remaining two chariots were fighting the slaves now, while Nico charged Hercules. A tear escaped her eyes, but she swept it away. She should still hope he would be okay. Even if she knew he had no chance of winning.

* * *

Nico knew he had no chance of winning. Even with all the luck in this world, he wouldn't have enough skills to kill Hercules. Even so, he charged. He knew why Hercules was sent after him, but he still wondered why he was sent _now _and why _he _was sent. But he had no time to think about that. Now he had to fight him, because his life depended on it.

The crowd cheered as their swords met each other. Soon, Nico stumbled backwards by the force Hercules put in his sword. He winced. More blood escaped the wound on his leg. He bit his underlip to suppress the pain and blocked the upcoming strike.

Hercules smirked. "Got a little wound there, kid?"

Nico ignored him and swayed his sword toward his popliteal, but Hercules dodged just in time. He slammed the hilt of his sword against Nico's wound, making him drop to his knees. More blood escaped the wound. Nico loosened his grip on the hilt and Hercules kicked his sword away. He gritted his teeth and felt his conscious slipping away. What a pathetic way to die.

"I thought you would put up more of a fight, di Angelo. Have a good time in hell", he said before lowering his sword in Nico's neck.

* * *

Percy rushed toward the battle, leaving the others with the other gladiators. He had wanted to let Nico fight his own battle. He didn't know what Hercules wanted with Nico, but he figured it had something to do with Nico's past.

When he saw his friend struggling to fight properly, while coping with his wound, he just couldn't let him die like that. He ignored his own wound and managed to change the direction of Hercules' sword with the tip of his trident.

He suddenly twisted his trident. With Hercules off guard, Percy was able to throw the sword out of his hand. It twisted in the air, until the sword clattered on the ground. Percy held point of his trident against his throat while Nico fell unconscious.

"Who are you?", Hercules grumbled to Percy.

"Why are you here?", Percy asked, ignoring his question. He wouldn't give Hercules his name, even if it was a fake one.

Hercules frowned. "I'm here to kill, _slave_", he sneered, while keeping one of his hands behind his back. "And I intend to complete my mission." Percy was unable to dodge the knife that was thrown to him. It pierced his right shoulder and Percy was forced to release his grip on the trident. He cursed behind his breath and stumbled backwards.

He pulled the knife out of his shoulder and threw it away. He was bleeding heavily now. The wound on his stomach wasn't healing either. Hercules smirked, with another knife in his hand. "You're going to regret intervening, kid", he said before he charged, not caring that Percy was on the verge of death if he got any other wounds.

Percy dodged the strikes, before falling backwards. He fell flat on the ground. His hands searched the ground, for anything he could find for. Hercules was about to strike, when Percy found what he was looking for. He blocked Hercules' knife just in time with the sword.

He didn't have much strength in his arm though, so he used his left hand to help. Percy bit his underlip as the double-edged blade sliced in the palm of his left hand. Hercules was towering over him now and the force was almost too much for him to take. With his last strength, he managed to change the direction of the knife.

Hercules stumbled forwards and fell on the ground next to Percy. Percy wasted no time and sliced his throat with his new found sword. A last breath escaped Hercules' mouth. The crowd went silent as Percy stood. The leaf-shaped sword still in his hand.

* * *

**[A/N]: Done! ;D AND: 50 REVIEWS! :D :D :D :D *me dancing* W000ttt ;D **

**Sorry for that xD I didn't think it would end this way when I first started this story, so don't mind me being happy xD I'm really glad people like it :) So... Any guesses which sword that is? ;P **

**To Di Blythe: Thanks! ;D Your Jasper one-shot, as a reward for being the 50th reviewer, is done tomorrow ;). Should I post it on FF as a story, or PM it to you? ;)**

**To awesomeness: Thankyouuuu ;D I'll put him in the story later on ;) And for those cliffys... Sorry :)**

**As for the other reviewers: Who Hercules' fiancee is? I think you're smart enough to guess that one ;). **

**'Till next time ^^**

**Xx Anny**


	14. Chapter 13: Following Orders

**Chapter 13: Following Orders**

Rules are to be broken, just like orders

It didn't take long before the crowd went crazy. A slave killing the king's champion was absolutely unheard of. Zeus could see his daughter smiling from the outcome. He wanted to make her happy, but a traitor? He wanted to protect her from people like that. That was why he had sent people to follow her that day. To see where she was going. And when he realized that boy was Hades' son... He was too dangerous to keep living.

And now, that puny little slave had intervened. Those who protected a traitor, _is_ a traitor. And he wouldn't let that boy go. The king smirked. With those wounds, they wouldn't be able to fight properly. He wouldn't let anyone give them any treatment. A smile covered his face when the slaves were returned to their cell.

Thalia excused herself and went back to her chambers. Jason frowned when he turned to his father. "Why are you smiling, father?"

Zeus ignored him and stood as well. When they walked back, leaving Jason alone, he turned to one of the soldiers. "Make sure no one visits the slaves. Anyone who does, shall be marked as traitors." The soldier nodded and went away.

* * *

Percy was disarmed and sent back to the cell, together with the other slaves. Nico was still unconscious and carried by one of the guards. He was close to collapsing himself too. Which he did once he was inside the cell.

When he woke and tried to get up, he was immediately turned back down again. "Stay down", the kid muttered, before ripping off a piece of Percy's clothing.

"Hey!"

The kid didn't answer and wrapped the piece around Percy's shoulder wound. "This way it won't get infected, I hope."

The 'I hope' wasn't that reassuring, but Percy still muttered a small thanks. "What's your name again?"

"Hagan, you?"

"Livius", Percy said with a smile, before he remembered something. "Nico?"

"Here", Nico said in the corner of his eye. Percy looked to his left and saw Nico sitting against the wall. He was even paler then normal, but looked better than at first. A - kind of - bandage was wrapped around his thigh. "Thanks for back there."

Percy smiled at him. "Don't mention it", he said before trying to sit up again. This time the kid didn't make any move to keep him down. A sharp pain went through his stomach. He looked down at the wound and saw it leaking through the - kind of - bandage. He bit his lip, but still managed to sit up. "So, what did I miss?"

The kid frowned. "The guards said no one is permitted to visit us again. So no treatments what so ever. King's orders."

"Foolish king", Percy looked back to see Luke tending his own wound, with a frown on his face. For once, Percy had to agree with Luke. The king was indeed foolish. But even so, Percy guessed that if he would have to fight tomorrow... He remembered that Chris had said no slaves survived a week of fighting. Percy sighed.

Percy saw Nico straighten his back and looking behind him. Percy turned and saw something he didn't suspect. Out of the royal carriage stood two girls. One wasn't that hard to recognize: Thalia. Percy didn't know the other girl. She had black hair and eyes, and her dress was black with brown-green stripes and Percy could see the small tiara in her hair. They looked like nobody should mess with them.

The guards didn't sense that though, when they blocked their path. "Nobody is to enter."

* * *

Zoë could feel her anger boiling up, when her path was blocked. "Move, _boys"_, she sneered, "Or you shall regret it." The guards seemed to hesitate, but made no move to go out of their way. She bit her lip to contain her anger and Thalia put a hand on her shoulder. She looked at her and she could see that Thalia was equally angry.

"Do you have any idea who we are?", a few of the guards nodded and Zoë could see fear in some of their eyes. _Good_. "Please, say it for me", Thalia continued. They didn't say anything. "_Say. It._", she sneered. They gulped at Thalia's tone. A smile formed on Zoë's lips. This was exactly why they were best friends.

"Princess Thalia Grace of Rome, daughter of king Zeus, and Lady Zoë Nightshade, daughter of general Atlas", one of them eventually said. Thalia nodded appreciatively.

"Now, who are you?", she asked the guard.

"Larry Dane, my lady", the guard said reluctantly. A smile appeared on Thalia's face.

"Now, dear Larry, would you please tell me how you can possibly give us orders?"

Larry bit his lip. "Orders from the king, my lady."

"Do you see my father here?", the guard shook his head, "Since he isn't here, he couldn't give you any orders then. And since I'm the highest ranked person here, _I _should give _you _orders. Do you know what happens with those who defy orders?", the guard shook his head again.

A sadistic grin formed on her face now. "They get locked up in the dungeons and tortured. And I do hope for you that you get Thanatos. He kills you quickly. Now, Tartarus is the one you should _really _fear. He kills you slowly and painfully. Starting with you tentacles of course", she added with a sweet smile on her face. The color on Larry's face escaped and he gulped. "Now let us through." He nodded and let them through.

Zoë sighed. So much for the guards here in Rome. _But what should I expect? They are all boys anyway._

She looked at the cage before her. The five slaves were just sitting there, tending their own wounds or looking at them. One boy stood up and she saw Thalia running up to him. Now, she already knew all about her crush/friend, but that didn't mean she approved of it. She scowled when they hugged awkwardly through the bars and smiled when Thalia punched him in the shoulder, making him flinch.

He then sighed. "I guess I deserved that..." Thalia nodded eagerly, but Zoë could see a tear forming in the corner of her eye. She sighed and let them have their conversation, while just standing there awkwardly.

"I guess you don't like men that much, do you?", she heard someone in the cage say. She looked at the boy, who made an attempt to stand up. He failed miserably though, but was supported by a smaller boy. They walked toward her, until the boy could support himself on the bars. "Thanks, Hagan", the smaller boy just smiled and sat back.

He hold his hand in front of her, as if he wanted her to shake it. "Livius." She glared at him, but didn't say anything. She had a feeling she knew the boy before him. Then realization struck her. "You're that slave that killed Hercules?" Livius nodded, but didn't seem happy with how he was called.

She looked at him warily. He had black hair with sea-green eyes. On his face and the rest of his body were countless scars and a few open wounds. On his shoulder and stomach were bandages, probably from the fight before. He was muscular and Zoë had the feeling that he indeed would have be able to win from Hercules.

Livius lowered his hand when he realized Zoë had no intention to shake it. "Who are you and why are you here?"

"Who I am is not of your business and I'm here because of you actually."

Livius raised an eyebrow on that. "What do you mean?"

"Hercules was my fiance."

* * *

**[A/N]: And I guess that should be a good place to stop :). How is everything going out there? Here is everything going perfect ;D No school, mother away for the day and I kept enjoying the lovely weather (which will end soon since it's already autumn) while writing this chapter for you people ;D **

**Btw, there's a story that I just can't help but recommend: "Wolf's Law" It's an AMAZING story, which found by checking the favorite stories of one of this story's followers (thank you for that :D)... Believe me when I say that it's extraordinary well written :)) **

**Thank you for everybody who reviewed last chapter! Though I haven't had lot of new followers lately :'( I hope this time I will :)**

**To awesomeness: You've got the fiancé-thing right ;P And sorry for not putting Hagan in the last chapter, but he is in here ;P Again, Dylan will have his appearance later in the story when everything had progressed a lot more ;). And about that sequel... I was already planning that (sort of) :D **

**To Lmb111514: Hahaha ;P I really, REALLY, wanted to kill him :D *yes, I am that evil* MHUAHAHHAHAAAA *sorry*  
**

**To Di Blythe: Haha thank you :) I'm blushing here XD Here is chapter 13 (chapter 13 already... Man, time passes fast xD).. No Jasper though, I hope you don't mind ;) There will be Jasper in chapter 14 though :P **

**To Guest: Yes, Annabeth will be in the story. This story contains Percabeth after all, since it's my favorite couple ;P She just won't make an appearance at least in the next 5 chapters, since she simply doesn't fit in the plot yet. It's too soon for Percy to be in a relationship and otherwise there would be too many things going on at the same time ;). I hope that cleared some things up ;).**

**Sorry for the long Author Note ;P**

**'Till next time ^^**

**Xx Anny**


	15. Chapter 14: Anaklusmos

**Chapter 14: Anaklusmos**

Everything and everyone has its story

Confusion was written all over Percy's face and he blinked for a while to check if it was true. "What did you say?"

Zoë sighed heavily as if she was extremely annoyed, which she was. "He was my fiancé", she said with a blank expression. Percy couldn't help but think she didn't like Hercules that much.

So, he just nodded while scratching his chin with his free hand. "Okay... So, why are you here, then? Do you want revenge for your ex-future husband, or something? Is that why you brought that sword?", he nodded his head toward the scabbard in her hand.

Zoë followed his gaze and took the sword out of its scabbard. Percy looked confused at the sword. He had seen it before. "You've killed him with this sword. It was his before you took it." Percy nodded slowly while looking at the sword. _So that's why..._

There was still something that he didn't understand though. "So how come you have it now?"

"It was originally mine. They'd wanted to put it with the other swords after Hercules died, but I told them not to. Hercules had took it from me after my father had told us we would get married. Saying that a sword was no weapon for a girl. That a woman should just take care of the man, nothing else." Zoë huffed at the memory. "That bastard."

Percy nodded his head. He had seen lots of girls fight pretty well when he was still on the streets. He knew that some shouldn't be underestimated. "Sounds like total douche bag. I've fought some women before and some were better than any other man I've ever fought."

For the first time during their conversation, Zoë smiled. Not an enormous grin, but it was still there. It startled Percy a bit, but he shook his amazement away. "So I take it you don't mind him being killed?"

Zoë huffed, but nodded. "Now, for the reason I'm here. I just wanted to see what his killer was like. I've brought the sword in case there were some _complications_. But I guess Thalia took care of that."

Percy nodded in understanding and looked at her. She was very strong-willed, but also really distant, unless you get to know her. He would see how she and Thalia were friends. He smiled a bit, but caught himself doing that. _They are still Romans. With a high status as well..._

Zoë looked at Nico and Thalia. Percy followed her gaze and saw that they were ready with their conversation. "Shall we go?", Zoë said eventually. Thalia nodded and said a final goodbye to Nico, before leaving. "It was an _interesting _conversation, boy", Zoë said before following Thalia toward their carriage. But not without giving the guards a warning not to say anyone that they had been there, of course.

Percy watched them ride away and looked at Nico. "So, what were you two talking about?"

Nico shrugged. "Nothing special", he said, but Percy could see a small smile on his face. That "nothing special' had probably been quite pleasant to him.

He saw Nico having something in his hand. He frowned a bit. "What's that?"

"What?", he said before he realized what Percy was talking about, "Oh this..." He opened his hand for Percy to look at it. Percy could see something that seemed like some sort of bread in the palm of his hands, but he had no idea what it was. "It's Ambrosia. It helps healing the wounds faster, even if you eat only a little bit", Nico said as if reading Percy's thoughts.

Nico held out his hand for Percy to take a little bit of it. He did the same with the others. He expected it to be disgusting, like other medicines, but it wasn't. A warm feeling spread through his body when he ate it. Percy smiled at the pleasant feeling and he could see the others did so too.

"So what do we do now?", Percy asked eventually.

* * *

Piper let out a small sigh when she put Jason's clean clothes in the top drawer. She missed her home a lot. Her father, even though he had given her to the slave traders for the sake of the village. Her mother, even though she had left them when she was just a baby. Her father had often said that Piper's beauty was inherited from her mother.

At first, she had hated her. Later, she had accepted her not being there and started to miss her. But now, now it was even worse then before. Here she was, in a complete unknown environment. As a slave.

She heard the door behind her open and she turned. When she saw Jason walking inside the room, she bowed her head. She had learned to do that when she had first came there.

Jason didn't like it though. He sighed. "You don't have to do that, you know..." She smiled and nodded, knowing that she would probably do it the next time too since it had become her habit. At first, he had liked it, but suddenly yesterday evening he had said that she didn't have to do it.

Jason walked toward one of the chairs - more of a couch, but then smaller - and sat on it. A heavy sigh escaped his mouth. She looked questionably at him. "Rough day?", she eventually asked after a moment of silence. She probably shouldn't have said that, but she couldn't help but being worried.

He nodded, luckily not minding her speaking up first. "Yeah... Some trouble with the slaves."

Piper frowned. "What about it?"

Jason frowned too, as if thinking if he should tell her or not. But he did anyway. "Apparently, there's an old traitor among the slaves who had been fighting in the Colosseum. My father used Hercules, you've heard of him right?", she nodded, "Well, he used him to kill that slave. But before he could do so, another slave intervened and killed Hercules."

Piper gasped. From what she heard from other maids, Hercules wasn't beaten once. And to be killed... "So what now?"

Jason sighed. "My father ordered that no one was to see the slaves, since they were badly wounded. But a few minutes ago, I heard that Thalia and Zoë, the daughter of Atlas, were seen by some of the citizens, talking to them. I ordered them to not tell my father, but I'm worried for my sister. She always seems to get herself into trouble." He sighed again.

"Why would the princess go to them?" It didn't seem logical to her that Thalia would take such measures to see those slaves.

"Because that traitor is di Angelo, her old friend."

Piper's widened. "Wait. Nico di Angelo?"

Jason glared at her and frowned. "Yeah... How do you know him?"

She bit her lip. She hadn't expected Nico to be a _traitor_. Something wasn't right about this. Nico wouldn't be so foolish to do something like that, right? he always seemed so _mature_ about those kind of things.

She looked up and saw Jason glaring at him suspiciously. "S-sorry, what did you say?"

"I said: How do you know him?"

She hesitated. Would she tell the truth to Jason? She figured she could trust him, but still... She sighed and figured it wouldn't do much harm if it was Jason who listened to it. So, she started telling the story, not knowing someone was behind the door, listening to their conversation.

* * *

**[A/N]: Chapter 14: ready for take-off! ;P Bit of Jasper-bonding (no romance yet, sorry) and Perzoë-bonding... Too answer a few questions beforehand, since I know they will be coming:**

**When will Percy get Riptide? - Patience you must have, my young Padawan... xD No seriously, how could he get someone else's sword when he is inside a cage or fighting in the arena? Will someone just throw it toward him and he'll leap high in the air to cash it, so he could epically kill his opponent****? Meh, I don't think so xD But no worries, he'll wield the sword. Just not yet ;).**

**Will Percy and Zoë be together? - No. Just no. xD Just - kind of - friends ;P **

**To Guest: (Please, just leave a name... Now people don't know who I'm talking to xD) Well, I'm patient :) What truly matters though, is if I enjoy people with this story ;) Not about how many reviews I get... (Though I really really really like them (hint hint hint)) ;P**

**To awesomeness: I don't mind the caps-lock :P Believe me... That was the greatest compliment I've been given so far! Thank you, thank you, thank you :D It feels really great that you say that ;D I can't thank you enough for that :))**

**I hope you enjoyed this chapter ;) If you have any questions about the story, just ask ;) **

**'Till next time ^^**

**Xx Anny**

**PS: New cover! So you like it? Or should I change it back? xD**


	16. Chapter 15: Stargazing

**Chapter 15: Stargazing**

When you want to help another

The sun set in the beautiful city of Rome and the crowd dispersed, leaving only a few people on the streets. When the last bit of the sun disappeared under the horizon, the streets were almost completely silent. As if an unknown being decided that no sounds should be heard at night.

Percy demolished that thought, when he heard a whisper in his ear. "Silent, huh." Percy jumped in the air from the sudden sound. He looked to his left in complete shock and he saw Nico leaning toward him. An amused smile on his face. Percy scowled at him, only for his smile to mold into a wide grin.

He sighed and his body a bit so he could sit comfortably again. He grunted when his shoulder bumped against the wall. The wound still hadn't healed properly, even though the ambrosia _had_ helped. Now, he would survive the night. Percy didn't know if that was a good thing or not, though.

"Remember me why I put up with you again?", Percy sighed.

Nico shrugged. "Because you love me." Percy scowled again, but couldn't help but smile too, which ruined his threatening look.

"So, what's up?", Percy asked, since he knew something was wrong. Usually, Nico would've just looked at the stars without saying anything, with that dreamy look in his eyes. Percy had always wondered what he was thinking about. He couldn't help but think that at those times Nico was thinking about a certain Roman princess.

And he couldn't help but think that Nico wasn't stargazing now because of the same person. Percy wondered what they had talked about earlier that day.

As if reading his mind, Nico answered. "When Thalia and I talked, she said she would get us out soon", Percy raised an eyebrow on that, "and that she forgave me from what I'd done, though I still don't know how she knew about that in the first place." He sighed.

Percy frowned. "What have you done she would forgive you for? You've done nothing wrong, right?"

Nico bit his lip and averted his gaze. Percy had the feeling that he did do something wrong. He didn't say anything though, so Percy decided to push him a little further. He knew he shouldn't do that, but he had the feeling he would regret it if he didn't. "What have you done, Nico?"

Nico sighed in defeat. "I.. Uh.. Kind of attempted to free my father when he was imprisoned last year."

Percy had to breath deeply a few times, to suppress his frustration. So that's what he hadn't said before. "So that's why you fled back then?" Nico nodded. "Wouldn't the princess do the same thing as you did if she would get us out?"

Nico frowned. Percy guessed he hadn't thought about that. "Nico, it isn't bad to hope it could happen, but think about it... She is the princess, but she would be a traitor - no matter what status she has. She would have to flee just like you did, together with us. Now, personally I think she wouldn't do such a thing," Nico opened his mouth to protest, but Percy cut him off by holding up his hand,"but even if she would, would you _really_ want her to be in such a situation? Would you want her to give up everything she has?"

Nico bit his underlip and averted his gaze again. He muttered a small 'never mind' and looked at the stars in the sky. A longing look in his eyes. Percy put a hand on his shoulder. "Sorry, man."

* * *

The wind messed up her hair, but Thalia didn't mind as she enjoyed the view from her balcony. Even if it was still half dark, she could already see the moon in her brightest colors. She smiled a bit when her favorite star constellation, the Hunter, came to a view.

She sighed, thinking about the time when she and Nico would be stargazing, back when they were younger. They had made so many memories together, that it was hard not to think about it.

_A tear streamed over her cheek as she ran away from her father. He had said that she would have to go to the more formal events in the kingdom to 'get used to it', but she wanted none of it. She didn't care that she was the oldest of his two children. She just wanted to live a normal life. That wasn't that hard to understand, even for her idiotic father, right? _

_She wiped the tear away and forced herself not to weep anymore of them. It wasn't worth it, she told herself. She looked behind. Luckily, no one chased her. She stopped running as she saw where she'd arrived. The scent of the beautiful flowers filled the air in her nose. Persephone's garden._

_She looked around and saw Nico gazing at the sky, right in the center of his mother's garden. She didn't understand why he'd do that, since it was already night and he wouldn't see anything. The warm summer wind blew some streaks of hair in front of her face. She had to take them in her hand to keep them from covering her eyes. _

_She walked toward the boy, who tensed by the sudden sounds of somebody walking toward him. He turned around and she could barely see the dark orbs that were his eyes. He relaxed and she smiled at him. _

_Nico gestured to her to sit down next to her, so she did. The weird feeling in her stomach ignored, when he smiled softly at her. His gaze returned to the sky and she couldn't help but ask. "What are you looking at?"_

_"Look up and you'll see them", and she did was she was told. Her mouth slightly opened as she saw the millions of white spots in the sky, surrounding the moon. She had never had any interests in the night's sky, the light blue color of the day's sky had been far more beautiful in her opinion. But looking at all those constellations, that opinion changed immediately._

_"Beautiful", she whispered to no one in particularly. __Nico heard it though and nodded his head. _

_The stars made her seem small, as if her life didn't really matter to the universe. That she was just smaller that an ant in the eyes of the universe. That it didn't matter what she did, since there was always something far more important._

_"So what happened?", Nico eventually asked after a long moment of silence. _

_She bit her lip. "Had a fight with my father." _

_She was shocked by the arm that was leaning over her shoulders. "Everything's going to be okay", and she couldn't help but believe him as she snuggled closer to him. "I won't let anyone hurt you", he muttered, but she still heard him and looked at his face, a wound from his ear to his jaw._

_Her finger traced the skin under the wound and frowned. "Who did this?" __Nico averted his gaze and bit his lip. He had the tendency to do that when he didn't want to talk about it, or when he was embarrassed about something. "Nico..."_

_"Just a little accident during sword fighting, Thals, nothing to worry about", he said reassuringly. She frowned, but let it go._

_"I won't let anyone hurt you", she echoed Nico's words. A questioning look on his face. "I pinkie-promise." She held out her right pinkie for Nico to do the same. _

_He smiled at her. "I won't let anyone hurt you either, I promise", he said as their little fingers curled together._

* * *

**[A/N]: How are you doing, peeps? ;p Me? Ohhhh I'm doing fineee... Except for the fever, the headache and the dizziness xD So yeah, I'm sick... I hope to get better though (at least it's better then yesterday), but not much progress since this morning... So if this chapter is bad or if there are some mistakes, please blame the fever xD... Not much progress in the story... Just Thalico, liked it? *sighs* Thought so... **

**Anyway, thanks for everybody who reads this and for those who put up with me, while I ramble about everything and nothing... Oh yeah, more then 10.000 views (10.481 now)! *me happy* ;)**

**I won't be answering reviews this time, since I'm too tired xD But a special thanks to: xxyoursindemigodishnessxx, Di Blythe (love uuu ;P), PJoHoOFan, Lmb111514 and awesomeness, as always ;). I'm going to bed now xD.  
**

**'Till next time ^^**

**Xx Anny**


	17. Chapter 16: Changing Plans

**Chapter 16: Changing Plans**

Brace yourself for what is to come

Tick. Tick tick. Tick tick tick. Thalia woke up from the sound, wondering what it was. She opened her eyes and had to adjust them to the light, before she could see her room.

Then suddenly, a window snapped open. A cold wind sent shivers down her spine. She sat up, thinking she would have to close the window, but her personal maid beat her to it.

She grinned at Thalia. "Good morning, Thals."

Thalia grunted in response and stood up. She stretched her body, before looking out of the window. "Bad weather, huh."

The blonde nodded and also looked out of the window. The sun had already gone up, but wasn't visible due to the dark clouds. She could hear thunder booming in the distance. She realized the ticking sound she had heard when she woke up was the rain ticking on the window.

They say it is a bad sign when it rains in the summer, especially if it thundered. That it was because of that the Gods were angry, but Thalia didn't believe that. They were just looking for an explanation why it would rain in the first place. There had to be a more logical explanation than that. Something that was more believable.

"Do you believe that there are Gods somewhere there above?", her personal maid eventually asked, as if she could hear Thalia's thoughts.

Thalia shook her head. "Nope, do you?"

The grey-eyed girl frowned. "No, and I believe that there is another explanation of why it rains..." Thalia gestured her to go on. She was interested in the theory her maid had - since she always had a theory about why some things happen. Even though the theory was probably a long one.

"Well, there are always those dark clouds when it rains, so it just has to have something to do with that: the rain comes out of them. So, you have to ask: how do those clouds appear? I have a theory about that too, if you'd like to hear that."

Thalia nodded. "Sure."

"Well, when the sun shines, it gets warmer in here. You know, when I cook water, for cleaning for instance, steam comes out of the water. So steam must also get out of the water in the lake when it's warm, right? That stream rises in the air and eventually becomes a cloud, which contains a lot of water. That water is heavy and is bound to fall out of the clouds, so it rains."

An enormous smile appeared on Thalia's face as she walked over to the girl. "You're a genius, Annie!"

"Annabeth", the maid automatically replied, "and thank you Thals."

Thalia just grinned. You may wonder why Annabeth was allowed to talk that way to the princess. Well, they had a long history together. Her mother, Athena Chase, was Zeus' adviser until Annabeth turned 7. They got to know each other that way when they were still young. But when Athena was killed by a greek, Annabeth was just a normal citizen, without any parents, home or family (her father had left them when Athena was still pregnant of her).

So, Thalia took pity on her and managed to give Annabeth a home in the palace. After a few years, Zeus had found out and was Annabeth only permitted to stay there if she would be Thalia's personal maid.

Personally, Thalia thought that Annabeth was the most intellectual person she'd ever met. And the most proud one at that. Even now, Thalia could see the pride radiating from her, just because of the compliment she'd given her.

"Have you thought about my plan?", Thalia asked her. They shared almost everything, including Thalia's plan of releasing the slaves (or just Nico) and she was dying to know what Annabeth thought of it.

Annabeth grimaced. "It's destined to fail, since there are too many people on the streets at day. Someone would take notice of you, even if you were undercover, and stealing the keys from the guards would be too dangerous. It would be easier at night, but that way, you're more vulnerable. And you won't get as lucky with those guards next time..."

Thalia sighed and nodded. "I guess you're right... So, what do you suggest to do?"

Annabeth opened her mouth to say something, but was cut off by the doors of Thalia's room that slammed open. Several soldiers stepped in, one holding a scroll is his hands. The man opened the scroll before saying what it said.

"Thalia Grace, princess of Rome, is hereby suspected of treason, due to ignoring orders and threatening the guards. You are to come with us to the throne room where the king shall say his judgment."

* * *

Percy yawned as he sat up. He stretched his arms, causing a sharp pain in his shoulder. The pain had gone less bad since yesterday, but the wound was still there. Percy had wished that the pain would've been gone after a good night sleep, but he guessed he wasn't that lucky. He looked at his stomach and saw the wound bleeding through the bandage. Probably because he sat up so suddenly.

Someone gave him a piece if ambrosia. He muttered a "thanks" at the giver and put it in his mouth. The pain subsided and he at his left, to see Luke sitting next to him. He smiled at Percy. "Good morning."

Percy narrowed his eyes at him. He really wanted to kill the guy, but refused to think that way. He still didn't know anything about Luke Castellan. All he knew was that he killed his mother and was a traitor of Rome and Greece. But instead of just confronting Luke about it, he just replied. "Morning. What's up?"

Luke shrugged. "I'm doing okay, I guess... Just thinking about what Thalia said the day before yesterday."

Percy frowned. _Why would he think about something like that? _"Why?"

"I just...", he sighed, "I just want her to trust me, but I can't demand that of her after all I did. But I guess you don't want me to talk about it. After all, I did kill your mother, Perseus." Dumbfounded, Percy looked at Luke, who just smiled at him. "What? You thought I didn't know? Come on, Perseus you're an open book."

Percy narrowed his eyes at Luke, but didn't know what to say. Of course, he knew that there would be a day when his identity would be found out, but he hadn't guessed it would now.

He heard a few grunts from the others, who were slowly waking up. It was Luke who broke the silence between them. "We'll talk about it later."

* * *

**[A/N]: Hehehehe... Do you hate me now? Oh well x) So... ALMOST AT 75 REVIEWS :O :O :O Just like last time, I want to make a request one-shot for the 100th reviewer. I know we aren't there yet, but I just wanted to say it ;D (since I loveeee reviews and I loveeeee you guys ;P)**

**So... Annabeth makes an appearance, Thalia is in trouble and Luke knows about Percy... Tell me what you think about it ;D**

**To Chazaq: Thank youu ;) Please remember that I'm Dutch, so English isn't my first language... I'm trying to keep the grammar mistakes at a minimum, but sometimes I just can't help it ;) (today I changed the first 3 chapters though and removed the grammar mistakes) **

**To awesomeness: Yeah... Sorry for the filler ;) I hope this one makes up for it ;)**

**To Di Blythe: Hahah thank you Di! I love talking to you too and I hope you liked this chapter ;) **

**'Till next time ^^**

**Xx Anny**


	18. Chapter 17: The King's Judgment

**Chapter 17: The King's Judgment**

There are always reasons for a man's actions

Zeus was pacing in his throne room. He couldn't believe what he'd heard from those pitiful guards. Even if what they'd said was true, he would've to replace them for some tougher ones. They were the one that defied his orders.

Too bad the senate was present when those guards barged in.

They all shared the same conclusion: Thalia was a traitor. As a king, he had no choice but to have the same opinion. He _really_ wanted to get rid of that useless senate. He'd get his way, one way or another, without hurting his family.

He stopped pacing when he saw that the door opened, revealing the disciplined soldiers who marched inside. That was when he saw his daughter walking in the mids of them.

He sat on his throne and gestured the soldiers to leave, but saw that some wanted to protest. "If you don't obey my orders, you'll be thrown in the dungeons for a week." That seemed to help, since the soldiers left the throne room, leaving the two of them alone.

Normally, during a trial, the entire senate and some royals had to be present, but this was a special case. "Thalia."

Thalia scowled at him. "Don't you 'Thalia' me! Release me _now_", Thalia raised her hands, which were both in chains.

Zeus narrowed his eyes. "Don't you speak that tone at me. I'm your father _and_ your king! Now, tell me what happened yesterday evening. Did you really disobey my orders and go to those slaves with Atlas' spawn?"

"Her name is Zoë"

"Answer me."

Thalia seemed to hesitate but eventually nodded. "Yes."

Zeus gritted his teeth. _So it's true then. There is nothing I can do. The senators are coming soon, since they thought the trial would be later, and they will demand of me to kill my own daughter. I won't let this happen._

The door opened again and he watched as the entire senate joined them in his trial, like puny little ants walking toward their food.

The worst of them all, Octavian, bowed to him. "Have you made your judgment, _my lord_?" Zeus scowled at him as he heard the mock in his voice as he said 'my lord'. He knew Octavian had always wanted the throne and he didn't try to hide it.

Zeus looked between the senate and Thalia, and sighed. He would have to choose between his kingdom and his family. Jason would never forgive him if he were to kill Thalia and would force Zeus out of his throne for himself to sit on it. The senate would be against him if Thalia would go unharmed and Octavian would be getting more power.

That moment, Zeus made his decision. "Thalia Grace, you are condemned of treason. You are removed of your titles and are banished from this city" Thunder boomed in the sky, as if responding to his judgment.

* * *

The fights were cancelled. That was all that Percy heard from the guards after asking them what was going on. He frowned. He didn't know what had happened, but something was not right. Even the weather wasn't helping.

He glanced at Luke, who was staring at him. Luke grinned. _I really hate him._ After Luke had revealed he knew Percy's identity, he had been grinning at him all the time. As if he was planning Percy's death, which would be very reasonable. _He had already tried it before, so why not do it again?_

"I have my reasons", Percy was put out of his thoughts and narrowed his eyes at Luke. Apparently, he said that last thought out loud. _Oh well, good opportunity to start a conversation._

"And what would those reasons be?"

Luke narrowed his eyes at him. "That's none of your business."

Percy gritted his teeth. "I've lost everything because of you. At least you could tell me your reasons why you did it!", he had to try hard not to speak too loud.

Luke ignored him and looked out into the market, much to Percy's frustration. "See that kid over there?"

Percy followed his gaze and saw a little boy sitting against a wall. His clothes were in pieces and there were bruises on his face. He instantly pitied the boy, even if his own situation wasn't much better. "Yeah, I see him."

"If you were him and someone would offer you a home, would you do it? Regardless of what you should do?" Percy frowned, but shook his head, hoping Luke would believe him. "If your mother was crazy and abused you, and your father left you when you were born. If you were forced to live on the streets, with no way to go. Would you want somebody who would look out for you?"

This time, Percy bit his lip. He understood where Luke was going. He looked at the boy again, who was now coughing due to the great amount of dust a fast riding carriage left behind.

_The boy coughed and put a hand on his mouth. The other hand though, still grabbed the piece of clothing that covered is head and face. He hoped that this way he wouldn't draw any attention to himself._

_He coughed again. For the hundredth time since that day, he wished his mother was there. He knew she would've been able to make him feel better. A tear ran over his cheek, but he didn't bother to wipe it away._

_He missed them. He missed Tyson. His hugs that every bear would be jealous of. The twinkling in his eyes when he saw Hephaestus tinkering something again. The smile that he had when he got what he wanted for his birthday: a stick._

_He missed his father, who - even if he was in the middle of a meeting - always made time for him so they could play. The swimming matches that he had with him, even though he always lost. Even the scoldings his father gave him when he had a fight with Triton - his nephew - again._

_But most of all, he missed his mother. The soothing smiles she gave him. How she always stood up for him. How she could say 'everything will be okay', so Percy would be happy again._

_Now, nobody was there to say something like that. He would forever be alone, without a home to return to._

_He watched as more Roman soldiers walked by in, what once were, the greatest city of Greece. He watched as the remaining faithful Greeks were forced to leave their homes and live the rest of their lives as slaves. __But he would survive, since he still remembered the words his mother whispered to him that day: 'Go, my dear. Live your life, find a reason to never give up and do what's right. No matter what you'll be, you're my son and I love you'._

"That's a rhetorical question."

* * *

**[A/N]: Done ^^ So... I'm late again xD Sorry ;) I have a busy week, so I can't write that often... Oh well... **

**So, Thalia is banished, heart-to-heart talk with Luke (kinda) and the thoughts of a young Percy... Like it? Hate it? Just give me your opinion ;). And what will happen next? :O *Evil Anny is taking over* ****I guess you'll just have to wait :D Hihi**

******To awesomeness: Haha yeahh ;) Annabeth is just a genius with her now-a-days common knowledge... I didn't think it would be logical for her to know things like nanotechnology, or anything like that, in the good ol' times xD... (Or I'm just lazy) ;P And don't stoll/steal my sign out! :'( ;P **

******To Di Blythe: Like always: love uuuuu ;P Hope you liked this chapter ;) xxx**

******To my bff is a vampire freak: Yes. Three-triple-thousand-many times YES (and a little no). ;P This will definitely be a Percabeth. But they'll take it slow... Especially this story's sequel will have lots of Percabeth ;).  
**

******'Till next time ^^**

******Xx Anny**


	19. Chapter 18: Owning a Favor

**Chapter 18: Owning a Favor**

Being saved and being used by someone

Annabeth frowned as Thalia rushed in the room. "Wha-", she stopped as Thalia held her hand up. She expected Thalia to explain what she was doing, but Thalia just began to change her clothes. "What's going on?", she asked eventually after Thalia was done.

Absentmindedly, Thalia answered. "I have to go. Things are not looking good", she looked at some photo-frames, before taking the photo out of one of them and putting it in her pocket. Annabeth didn't get to see what picture it was.

Someone knocked on the door and Thalia gestured Annabeth to open the door, while she was busy packing some stuff. Annabeth opened the door and a very concerned prince entered the room. "Is it true?"

Thalia looked at her brother for a second and shrugged, before continuing packing some easy going clothes. She cursed and muttered something about not having enough comfortable clothes. Jason let out a frustrated sigh and watched as Thalia threw two pair of high heeled shoes across the room. "Not going to need that..."

"Thalia, I just heard from our father that you were banished, is that true?", Jason asked her as he saw that she was done. _Wait, What?!_

"That _man_ isn't my father!", she exclaimed, before sighing heavily to control her anger. Probably, she didn't want to hurt Jason. Thalia had always been protecting over Jason, even if sometimes it was the other way around, and being angry at him wouldn't help at all. "Sorry for that... Yes, it's true."

Jason gritted his teeth. Annabeth saw him clenching his fists over and over again. Before he could do anything stupid, like going to the throne room to kill his father, Thalia spoke up again. "Do you know what happened to Zoë?"

Her brother shrugged. "I don't know, but I guess the same punishment as you had", Thalia nodded thoughtfully at that. Then, her head shot up as she looked at the mirror that hang on the wall. She grabbed the silver tiara on her head and sighed as she put it on the bed. Annabeth frowned as she did that. She hated not knowing something.

So she spoke up. "Why are you doing that, Thals?"

Thalia turned her head toward her. "The _king _banished me and took my titles away. I have to leave within 10 minutes."

Annabeth's eyes widened at that. She knew the king would have to come up with an appropriate judgment, with the senate and all, but this was too much of a punishment. "Why would he do that? Even after yesterday, he wouldn't give you such a harsh punishment."

Thalia shrugged. "Maybe he just hates me", she said as if it didn't matter, but Annabeth could see in her eyes that it really did matter to her.

Annabeth decided to break the silence that followed by changing the subject. "So, what now?"

"I'm going to miss you, Jace", Thalia said suddenly before hugging him. Jason looked surprised for a second, but soon returned the hug. For a while, they just stood there, hugging each other. A small smile appeared on Annabeth's face.

"Now, go. I have some things to discuss with Annabeth", Thalia said as she broke the hug.

"Are you sure? Do you need me to do anything for you?", Jason said, but when Thalia shook her head at both the questions, he sighed and gave Thalia another - short - hug. "Take care, Thals", he said before turning and leaving the room.

Thalia sighed as the door closed. "I'm going all sentimental here..." Annabeth rolled her eyes at that. "Anyway, Annie, I finally have a way for you to return that favor I owned you for saving your ass back then."

* * *

Octavian smirked at the king's vulnerable state. This was the perfect way to tell Zeus who truly was in charge. Thanks to that stupid little princess and her friend, finally he got a chance to strike. He just had to fill some empty gaps.

"How about the fights, _my lord_?", Octavian asked when the meeting was over. The king turned to him and narrowed his eyes. _Now, I have to be careful._

"What about them? They're cancelled, of course."

Octavian smiled. "Of course, but wouldn't it be better to let them continue?"

Zeus frowned. "Why?"

"Di Angelo's spawn is still alive. It would be better if we'd kill him during the games", Octavian smirked, "after all, he's the main reason your daughter and her friend defied your orders." Zeus gritted his teeth and Octavian knew he had the king all around his little finger.

"What are you planning, Octavian?"

Octavian held his hands up in defense. "Nothing. I just want the best for the king and his kingdom."

Zeus narrowed his eyes at him, but Octavian knew he couldn't refuse this. After all, the rest of the senate was watching their conversation and Octavian already had their support. "Fine. The games will continue as planned. Meeting adjourned."

With a smile on his face, Octavian returned to his chambers. He finally got rid of threat number one, now it was time for threat number two. He smiled as his _friend _entered his room. "Hello, Dylan."

He watched as Dylan forced a smile and sat next to him. The 16 year old blonde had never been fond of Octavian, that he knew, but he owned Octavian his life. He frowned at Octavian. "Why did you call me here, Octavian?"

Octavian smiled at the boy. _Always straight to the point_. "Simple, I want you to spy on the prince again."

Dylan narrowed his eyes at him and gritted his teeth. "You can't use me that easily. That I caught him and that maid of him talking about Nico di Angelo, doesn't mean I'll be your little spy."

But Octavian just smirked. "Don't forget you own me for cancelling your trial. You would be dead if it wasn't for me. You own me. You proved that when you came to me with that information-"

"I didn't have a choice, did I?", Dylan interrupted, "You blackmailed me in continuing my trial! You're a shame of this society."

Octavian shrugged. "That doesn't matter now, does it? So, will you do it? Or aren't you able to?"

Dylan snorted. "I'll do it."

Octavian smiled as Dylan left the room. Threat number two was being cared of.

* * *

**[A/N]: Doneeeee xD So... Chapter 18 :O We're getting close to an end... I don't know how many yet, but don't expect more then 10 chapters coming after this one... Don't worry, there'll be a sequel ;P **

**So I started a new story this week: the Fall of the Mist ;) Basically just as it says, so please read it if you're interested. I'll still concentrate on this one though, so don't worry. xD **

**So... Not much action in this one, sorry about that, but since the games will continue: action in chapter 19 or 20 with some nice surprises (I hope) ;D**

**To Di Blythe: Good morning ;P (euhhh evening here xD) Hope you like it and we'll PM again :)**

**To awesomeness: Actually, I'm still not sure if he's good or evil yet... But in life, there are no such things as good or evil, since everybody has different perspectives, so I guess that's fine xD. Let me ask you something: do you want him to be evil? ;P Oh oh oh... Introduced Dylan xD Maybe not in the way you liked, but he has a great influence in the story, or better, the sequel ;)**

**To HoorayForCheese: Whahahah thank you ;P Now I wonder what you want to do with Octavian, if you're already that violent with Luke and Zeus ;P**

**To KariE2000: Yeah, Zeus is a very _interesting_ character, so it's really hard for me to know how he'd react to some things... So I'm glad you're mad at him (that sounded really weird xD) haha. Thanks for the compliment and I hope you liked this chapter ;).  
**

**'Till next time ^^**

**Xx Anny**


	20. Chapter 19: Dangerous Worries

**Chapter 19: Dangerous Worries**

Looking out for the other, while being in danger yourself

"Get up, slave", Percy groaned as he woke up from the sound. He frowned when he saw that it was already light. He got up and yawned. Apparently, he had been really tired, since he saw that the sun was already high in the sky. Then, he remembered that the guards were waiting for him. He walked out of the cage and saw that the others were already seated in the carriage.

Confused, Percy looked at one of the guards, Frank, who he had been in good terms with. "What's going on? I thought the fights had been cancelled for a few days..."

Frank gave him a sympathetic look. "The king decided to do them anyway. I don't know why, either."

Percy nodded, but frowned when he thought of something else. "Why were they cancelled in the first place? I asked another guard the same thing, but he didn't tell me."

The guard raised an eyebrow. "You don't know? And there I thought everybody in Rome would know by now, especially you guys...", he shook his head in amazement, "oh well, I guess it can't do harm if I told you."

Percy's eyes widened when he heard the story about Thalia and Zoë's banishment. He couldn't help but glance at Nico, who was waiting impatiently in the carriage. Nico would blame himself for their banishment, since Thalia came for him.

Then, realization hit him. _They want to kill Nico. _He looked at Frank again, but knew the guard wasn't allowed to say more about the matter. He sighed as he sat next to Nico. He narrowed his eyes to Luke, who was sitting across from him, before the door shut and they rode to the Colosseum. He already knew what he had to do to save Nico. And he didn't like the thought.

* * *

Jason blocked the strike that was aimed at his head with his sword and made his opponent stumble backwards. He smirked when he saw his chance. The young prince stepped on his opponent's foot and watched as he lost his balance. Jason kicked the sword out of his rival's hand and pointed his sword at the boy's chest. "Yield?"

The curly haired boy nodded. "Yeah, I yield." Jason smirked and offered his hand to his friend to get up.

"You're losing your touch, Leo. It's getting easier and easier to beat you."

Leo shrugged. "I never been into sword fighting anyway. Just give me some metal and fire, then I'm happy", he grinned, "and a hot girl", he added.

Jason shook his head in amazement and buried his sword in its scabbard. "I can get you that first two, but I don't know about that last one", he teased.

His friend pouted. "Hey! They all want my smoky hotness, but they are just too shy to admit it. You know, soon every girl will want to be in Team Leo." He picked up his own sword and put it in its scabbard. "Even your sister wants it. I've seen it in her eyes."

Jason frowned at the thought of his banished sister. Leo seemed to realize his mistake and sighed. "Sorry dude, I know you want to help her and stuff, but you just have to wait for the right moment. Don't make too rash decisions."

The prince looked at Leo with mixed emotions and raised an eyebrow. "Who are you and what did you do with Leo?"

Leo grinned. "I can be smart too, you know. Now, let's go." Jason nodded and followed his friend, still thinking about Thalia. He wondered if she was alright. He sighed and regained his posture. First, he had a game to watch.

* * *

Nico was the first to enter the arena. Lucky for him, no enemies were waiting for him, so he had the opportunity to look into the crowd. He frowned as he saw that Thalia's throne was empty. He couldn't help but think that something had happened to her. He shoved that thought away and thought about the problem at hand.

The crowd roared in approval when every slave was in the center of the arena. Nico saw Bacchus moving forward on the balcony. "LADIES AND GENTLEMEN! MAY I HAVE YOUR ATTENTION, PLEASE?", he bellowed. The crowd went silent and listened to what Bacchus had to say.

"Welcome to this special event of the games! Today, you will watch fight like you never did before! As an apology for the cancelled games, the king decided to give you all a _treat_", the crowd cheered at that.

Bacchus waited for the sounds to die down, before he started talking again. "Ladies and gentlemen, I give you this BATTLE ROYAL!" The crowd went absolutely crazy, but Nico felt his throat dry at his words. He looked at the others, who were thinking the same thing as him. _It's to kill or be killed now._

"The rules are simple", Bacchus continued as the gates opened, "everyone will fight as an individual until one man remains. That man will earn his freedom and get to wear the title Champion of Rome. And of course", he added, "you will be overloaded with gold." Nico watched as he saw soldiers, gladiators and civilians alike, walk out of the gates. Each heavily armored.

Nico felt a hand on his shoulder. As he looked to the hand's owner, he was met with a reassuring smile from under Percy's helmet. He nodded at Percy, knowing what he wanted to say. _We will kick some Roman's asses, but there's no way we'll get killed today._

"LET THE FIGHTS BEGIN!"

* * *

Thalia muttered some curses to her father, when she tripped over a tree root. She sighed, wiped the dirt from her clothes - she was so glad she wore pants, now - and continued walking. The sack of clothes and food hung over her shoulder, but she knew she didn't even have enough food for three days.

Last night had been a hard one. Thalia truly wasn't used to sleeping in the wild. Sure, she used to sneak out of the palace and go into the woods, but that was nothing compared to actually _sleeping_ in one. She shuddered when she thought of how she woke up with at least 20 spiders crawling over her body. Now, she understood why Annabeth was so scared of them.

She stopped walking when she heard some twigs break in the distance. Slowly, she walked toward the sound, while trying to not be seen. She smiled a bit when she saw a deer eating some grass.

For the first time since she left, she was glad she brought her bow and arrows, instead of her trusty spear and shield. She put the sack on the ground and grabbed her bow, as silent as possible. When she was young, she was trained to use the bow. Her trainers found her preferred weapons much too _manly_ and gave her a more _appropriate _weapon.

She took an arrow out of the quiver and aimed at the deer. She let out her breath as she released the arrow. The deer cried out a small yelp, before falling dead on the ground with an arrow in its neck.

Thalia's stomach made a sound as she walked toward the dead animal, thinking about having a nice warm meal.

* * *

**[A/N]: And there it is! Chapter 19 again ;D I had time to write today, so I thought: why not update for my dearest readers as a 'thank you' gift? ;P So here it is... Maybe I can update chapter 20 tomorrow, but I don't know for sure since it'll be a long one. Oh well, you'll just see it coming ;)**

**So, four different views... Percy wanting to save Nico, Jason worrying about Thalia (and Leo just being Leo :D), the beginning of the Battle Royal and Thalia hunting for food ;) Please tell my what you think ;D **

**92 reviews now :O Remember that the 100th reviewer gets that requested one-shot ;D (just say what you want me to do and I'll do it...) For if a guest is the 100th reviewer: please say how I can contact you ;) Otherwise, I can't give you the one-shot, can I? ;P **

_**QUESTION: gallantmon7196 recommended me in a review to change the parent names of the Greek gods, into the Roman ones. So Jupiter instead of Zeus, and Minerva instead of Athena. Please tell me what you think about that ;)**_

**To gallantmon7196: **Here you go! ;) If other readers think the same way, I'll change it ;). Thank you by the way for the review, compliment and recommendation! ;D

**To Harmonic Bunny: **Ohh you just wait for the sequel for what I have in store for that scrawny little annoyance *grins evilly* Believe me, he'll wish he was never in this story in the first place :D Hehehe :P And you're welcome ;)

**To awesomeness: **You'll see ;P I had the same feelings with Luke while reading PJO too! I'm glad you like the entrance ;) Just know he'll get more in few in the sequel ;).

**To Di Blythe: **Yeah... I got the idea xD I had to read your review 3 times over - slowly - to understand it ;P I love that you know that I know that you love the story ;P I hope you loved this one too! Love uu xxx

**'Till next time ^^**

**Xx Anny**


	21. Chapter 20: The Distraction

**Chapter 20: The Distraction**

There are a lot of different ways to fight

Percy jumped to his left when he saw a sword slashing at him from the corner of his eye. When he saw that his attacker was in fact one of his fellow slaves, he gave him a questioning look. "I need my freedom", was the only explanation he got from the guy, before the slave was stabbed in his back.

"No!", Percy yelled at the gladiator behind his fellow slave. He dashed toward the man, who still had his sword in the slave's body. Unable to block Percy's attack, the gladiator could dodge just in time by ducking, but Percy had already expected this. He changed the course of his sword and slashed the gladiator's throat.

His chest went forward and he gritted his teeth to keep himself from screaming. He turned to see who had caused the sharp pain in his back, but his attacker was already occupied by someone else.

Not wanting to stab the man in his back, Percy looked through the chaos for Nico. When he saw the familiar pale boy being attacked by two guys, he ran toward him. Just in time, he stabbed in one guy's chest, while Nico did the same with the other one. They nodded to each other, before looking for any possible threats.

Percy let out a small battle cry, before dashing toward five fighting men, ignoring the still burning pain in his back.

The crowd roared at the gore, caused by dozens of men killing each other. Percy really hated the ones who loved bloodshed, especially the ones who thought it was all a game, but he had little time to think about it as he was attacked from both sides.

He blocked one strike, but was unable to do so with the other. An arrow hissed through the air, before Percy could hear the sound of the dead body of his other attacker falling on the ground. He smiled grateful at Hagan, before Percy pushed the soldier's sword away. He slashed his sword at the man's chest, but was blocked by the soldier's shield.

Percy fell back, inspecting his opponent. The soldier didn't give him time to do so though, by attacking him almost instantly. Percy dodged the strike, before dodging another, and another, and another. He groaned, but kept dodging the strikes. When he felt his opponent getting more exhausted, he smiled and slashed at the man.

The soldier could block just in time, but didn't have much strength in his arm anymore, since the sword flew out of his hands. Percy attacked the man again, but the soldier blocked the strike with his shield. He used both of his hands to give him more strength and managed push Percy's sword away.

Smirking from underneath his helmet, the soldier attacked Percy with his shield. Percy didn't think he would be able to block the heavy weight of that shield, so he dodged. The soldier didn't expect that and was thrown out of balance. Percy took advantage of that and killed the man by stabbing him in his groin.

Percy took a second to control his breathing and check his surroundings. The amount of fighters had dropped immensely, just in a few minutes. Now, only the better fighters were left fighting each other. _Now, here comes the tricky part, _Percy expected.

It was his instinct that saved him.

He turned just in time, avoiding being stabbed in his back. Instead, the sword just left a wound in his side. Gritting his teeth from the pain, Percy looked at his attacker. His eyes widened.

Luke smirked and slashed his sword toward Percy's neck, but he was able to block the attack just in time. Percy pushed the sword away and stumbled backwards. He locked eyes with Luke. "What are you doing, _Castellan_?", Percy sneered.

"Finishing my original task", Luke answered, before attacking again. Percy dodged the arc by going on his knees and slashed his sword toward Luke's legs. The man in question stepped back just in time, but this way, Percy had the time to stand.

Percy took his sword in both of his hands, before dashing toward Luke. With a battle cry, he slashed at the guy. Luke found an opening in Percy's reckless attack and stabbed his sword in Percy's gut. Percy spit out some blood and felt himself getting dizzier, but managed to keep concentrating on the battle. Before Luke could take his sword out of Percy's body, Percy kicked his head with his hilt with all the power he could get.

Luke let go of his sword and stumbled sideways. Percy had the urge to lay down and sleep, but he just bit is lip and walked toward Luke. He pulled Luke's sword out of his body while doing so. Percy gritted his teeth from the pain, but kept the two swords in his hands.

He narrowed his eyes at Luke, but he guessed it didn't make much of an impression. He was panting too much for that. "What happened to you, Luke?", he managed to ask. When Luke didn't react to his question, Percy made an attempt to stab both of his swords into Luke.

Percy expected Luke to dodge, but he didn't. His eyes widened as Luke just stood still to receive the blow. With blood streaming out of his mouth, Luke still managed to whisper something in Percy's ear. "Tell Thalia I'm... sorry", he breathed out the last word, before falling on the ground. Blood seeped out of his wounds as he closed his eyes.

Still confused at Luke's last words, Percy tried to stop the bleeding by putting his hand on the wound. He felt his conscious slowly slipping away, but he bit his lip until blood streamed out of it, to keep his consciousness. The battle wasn't over yet.

He looked around him, but what he saw, shocked him. As if planned, four men were fighting Nico all at once. Percy could see him struggle as Nico was forced backwards with every strike he received.

Percy frowned and walked toward them, struggling to keep his balance with every step. The ground under his feet started to shift, but he kept walking, his eyes focused on Nico. Suddenly, he knew what he had to do to save Nico.

He stopped walking and put his hands on his helmet. He had grown used to the thing, but knew that it was time to take it off. He smiled as he took the helmet of his head, revealing his face.

Luckily for him, two men who were fighting Nico had watched him doing that and were frowning at him. Nico took this as an opportunity to strike. Dodging one strike and blocking the other, Percy watched as Nico killed his attackers. In that moment, two arrows pierced the two distracted men's necks, killing them instantly.

Percy smiled at the thought that he was able to save his friend. He was just about to fall unconscious, when...

"BOOOOOOOOOM!"

* * *

**[A/N]: MHUAHAHAHAHAHAA! :) So... Luke's dead, but still leaves some mysteries behind, Percy is being reckless again and everything just ended with a BANG xD I hoped you liked this chapter ;)**

**Question of last chapter remains: should I change the roman parents' names from Greek to Roman to give it a more Roman vibe? So Zeus will be Jupiter and Athena will be Minerva... Or should I just keep it like this?**

**To Di Blythe: *smiling evilly* I hope you liked it ;P**

**To awesomeness: Didn't kill your OC's ;P Dylan's role you'll see in the sequel... Since chapter 21 will be the last chapter (and the one after that the epilogue), you don't have to wait very long for that ;P I'm still debating about the name, though...**

**To Guest: I chose option 2 (already had that planned btw xD)**

**To gallantmon7196: No, it certainly wasn't good... xD I hope you like the chapter though ;)**

**'Till next time ^^**

**Xx Anny**


	22. Chapter 21: The Rescue

**Chapter 21: The Rescue**

Fulfilling somebody else's wish

"BOOOOOM!"

Nico watched as a cloud of dust approached him with an abnormal speed. He covered his eyes when it reached him. The dust made it hard for him to breathe, but he would have to manage. He ignored the screams of the panicked people and tried to think what happened.

It sounded like something had exploded, but he didn't know what. The dust, though, could only mean that the explosion was somewhere near the Colosseum. But what would cause such a great amount of dust? And more importantly: why?

Then, it struck him. It was a distraction.

He put a piece of clothing before his mouth, but kept his eyes closed. This way he would be able to breathe, without any dust entering his lungs. Nico kept his sword ready for any unexpected fighting, while ignoring his fresh wounds.

He didn't know what happened to him, until he fell unconscious on the ground.

* * *

Annabeth didn't like being ordered by someone, even if that someone was her best friend and the former princess of Rome. The only reason she was doing this, was because she'd owed Thalia.

It wasn't as if it was hard for her to do so. She'd just needed to pull some strings. The only things she hated, was that it took so long that she had to adjust her plans. Who knew the games would continue today? Her original plan had been to create a small cloud of dust, so the guards wouldn't see her and her companions rescuing those slaves. But with the slaves fighting today, she had needed more dust and more dust meant more destruction.

Luckily, thanks to the games, there were almost no people at the streets and thus no people who could see what they were doing. Or people who would get caught up in the destruction.

"Clarisse! How far are we?", she asked the brunette who was working on the catapults.

Clarisse swept some sweat from her forehead and smirked at Annabeth. "Ready", she wrinkled her nose, "now I want to kick some punks' asses", she added. Annabeth rolled her eyes at that.

She saw two boys running toward her and turned toward them. When they reached Annabeth, each of the twins had to take a moment to control their breathing. The longest was the one who spoke up first. "We've secured the building and made it weaker."

Annabeth raised an eyebrow at the second part. "Good, but how did you do it?", she asked the mischievous twins also known as Travis and Connor.

"Well...", Travis began.

"We may have used too much prank bombs to scare them", Connor continued. Some bricks crumbled off the walls, as if supporting what they said.

Annabeth shook her head in amazement, though a small shudder ran through her spine. She knew how terrifying their pranks could be - imagine waking up with spiders in your hair. They'd been this way ever since she got to know them - and that was around 2 weeks ago.

She sighed when she saw that everyone - Clarisse, Travis & Connor, Will, Michael, Frank and Hazel - was waiting for her orders. She looked at Frank. "You know who we should take?"

Frank smiled and nodded. Annabeth knew him from when they were only children (both of their parents had had to work together a lot). It was really convenient that he guarded the slaves...

"Alright", Annabeth took a deep breath, "Frank, I want you to collect them with me. Clarisse, Michael and Hazel: fight every possible threat that comes in our path. Will: you'll wait here for us and treat the wounded. Travis and Connor: get us transportation as fast as possible." Everyone nodded. Annabeth looked at Clarisse and smiled. "Fire."

Clarisse grinned and fired the two catapults - one aimed at the weakened building and one at a wall of the Colosseum. An enormous amount of dust erupted as the building collapsed. Annabeth smiled as she saw that her plan was working. "GO!"

* * *

Zeus smirked when he saw Hades' spawn being cornered by four fighters. His plan had worked and now, he finally got rid of that little traitor. Zeus frowned when he saw a slave - the one with the helmet, who had killed Hercules - walking toward them to help that brat, but saw that he was heavily wounded. He wouldn't be able to do anything.

Then, something unexpected happened. The slave removed his helmet. Zeus narrowed his eyes at the raven haired boy. He had the feeling he had seen that kid before. Suddenly, realization struck him as he jumped out of his seat. Everything made more sense now.

"Mars!", he bellowed.

Mars ran toward the outraged king with caution in his eyes. "Yes, my lord?"

"I want all of your men down there, now! Kill that slave", Zeus pointed at the boy he had just recognized as Poseidon's spawn.

"But -", Mars started.

Zeus narrowed his eyes at him. "You _dare_ defy my orders?! That boy is a threat to this kingdom! I. Want. Him. Dead."

Mars narrowed his eyes at the king. Just when Mars was about to reply, a loud "BOOOOM!" made Zeus turn toward the arena again. He watched as a part of the arena collapsed, before the arena was clouded with dust and he couldn't see anything anymore. The entire crowd was in chaos and was struggling to get out of the Colosseum.

"My lords!", a soldier yelled from behind Zeus. The king turned toward him. "Citizens have seen a group of armed people near that collapsed building!", the man reported.

Zeus gritted his teeth. _What's going on?_ Before he could give an order, Mars did it for him. "They're infiltrating the arena. Send 50 soldiers to the collapsed building and 20 in the arena. 10 will accompany me with defending the king and prince Jason. Try to find out what their intentions are."

Zeus narrowed his eyes at Mars, but before he could yell at the man, he was stopped by his own son. He glared at Jason. "What are you doing, Jason?"

Jason glared back with a certain determination in his eyes. "Taking priorities", he said as he walked toward Mars, "I suggest you do the same, father. Some things are more important than others."

The king scowled at his son's back and clenched his fists. He knew better than to argue, though. Zeus had a frown on his face as he and his son were escorted back to their chambers.

* * *

Annabeth knew it would be hard, but she hadn't expected it to be _this _hard. The dust helped them a lot - they weren't facing any enemies - but it also clouded their own vision. She noticed the dust was getting thinner and bit her lip.

"We have to be fast", she said to Frank, who was walking next to her, "with how many are they?"

"Only 4, the last time I checked. 2 were fighting each other, though, so maybe 3 or 2", Frank replied. Annabeth frowned at that. That was much lesser than first. It must have been a hard fight for those slaves. She hoped that that boy Nico was still alive. Everything was for him, after all.

When the dust cleared even more and she could see the dead bodies on the ground better, she looked at Frank and nodded. "Let's go."

Frank ran forward and looked at everybody on the ground. Then, he stopped and knelt next to one body. He checked the pulse, but nodded and stood up. Dead. As fast as he could, he repeated that action, until they arrived at the center of the arena.

4 dead bodies were on the floor, but Frank ran right past them. Annabeth saw someone standing next to the bodies with his eyes closed, a piece of clothing before his mouth and a black sword in his hand. Frank grinned and kicked him in the back of his head, making the boy fall unconscious (this way, they didn't have to fight, Annabeth realized). "This is Nico."

Annabeth nodded and walked toward Nico. She saw he was wounded, but not that wounded that he could die any minute. She grabbed the boy under his armpits and dragged him toward Frank, who was already inspecting another body. Surprisingly enough, Nico was amazingly light, so it was easy for her to do so.

Frank frowned at the body before him. He looked at Annabeth in despair. "He's unconscious, but heavily wounded. I don't know if he'll last any longer." Annabeth frowned too and walked toward the boy that lay on the ground. He had raven black hair, an amazingly handsome face and was around her age. Annabeth almost blushed, before she looked at the rest of his body.

Blood seeped out of the multiple stab and scratch wounds and he was dangerously pale. Annabeth gritted her teeth. "Carry him and try to stop the bleeding. Will will have to take care of him." Frank nodded and lifted the body, before looking around him.

He nodded toward another body. Annabeth ran toward the man that lay on the ground, leaving the unconscious Nico with Frank, but stopped in her tracks when she realized who he was. Luke. _Why has nobody mentioned to me that that _traitor _was a slave too?! _She tried to control her anger and knelt next to his body. She checked his pulse and felt that he was dead. A small smile appeared on her face.

Before she could stand up and search for more slaves, an arrow hissed over a shoulder. She perked her head up and was met with a pair of brown eyes and an arrow pointed at her. "Who are you?", the boy asked.

Before she could answer, she heard Hazel yelling at her. "Annabeth! Things are getting uglier in here! We won't be able to hold them off." She cursed behind her breath and looked at the boy again.

"We are rescuing you and your fellow slaves. Beside you, are there any other slaves alive?", she asked him. She had already realized that he was a slave too, judging the boy's clothes.

The boy glared at her suspiciously, but still answered. "Only two others." Annabeth nodded and stood up. The arrow in his bow followed her movement. "Where are you going?"

Annabeth rolled her eyes. "I'm getting out of here and you can come with me if you want. Just know that we're on your side", she said before running back to Frank, with the boy following her.

Frank was already running toward the exit. Luckily, the boy picked up the unconscious Nico. Annabeth smiled at that. He was apparently smarter than she thought. While running toward the self-made exit, she saw how bad it _really _was. She saw 10 soldiers fighting Clarisse - much to her displease - with a lot curses between each attack from the latter.

Michael was almost run out of arrows, as he killed soldiers one by one, and Hazel was fighting 7 soldiers. No, they were 6 now. In the distance, she saw more soldiers running toward them.

Annabeth gritted her teeth and almost thought it would be over, when a carriage rode toward them and stopped before Frank. "Let's get out of here!", she yelled at the others, as she walked inside the carriage after Will, Frank and that boy. Immediately, Frank laid the slave in his arms on the floor and let Will examine the slave. The boy laid Nico next to him.

When everyone had finally entered the carriage, the twins let the carriage ride on top speed, while Michael and that archer boy took care of the pursuing soldiers. She sighed. Finally, she didn't owe Thalia anymore.

* * *

**[A/N]: Whoaaaa long chapter! ;) So... Annabeth came to the rescue! And no cliffy this time for you guys :) Next one; Epilogue... :O I knowwwww! It ends so quickly :'( I'll update the sequel, The Hidden Prince (I know, cheesy ;P), ASAP ;D Review!**

**To awesomeness: **CONGRATZZZ ON BEING THE 100TH REVIEWER! ;D Now, normally I would PM you, but since you're a guest, I can't exactly do that... -_- So, I guess I should ask you this way... What is it that you want? ;P I take on every request (if it's possible) ;) Think of a one-shot, or a certain way you want to bend the plot, or a preview of the sequel... And please tell how I can contact you ;) And thank you for your opinion by the way :)

**To Di Blythe: **Thank you for the review! (Like always ;D) I hope you liked this chapter :) Love uuuu

**To 8EternallyMortal8: **Thank you! Your review really made my day :) I hope you liked this chapter just like the last one - or maybe even more? ;P - and I await your review ;P

**To Me2000: **Well, after this comes the epilogue... Don't have much to say about that xD Thanks for the review, btw!

**To Athena'sOwl36: **Me too... Next chapter, my friend, next chapter ;D Thank you for the review!

**To KariE2000: **Well, I have to do something to keep the reader's attention ;P Here's the update!

**Wow.. I'm getting to the stage that I can't answer all the reviews, since it would be too many A/N and too little of the actual story xD Just know that I love everyone who reviews! And of course, who follows and favorited this story! ;D**

**'Till next time ^^**

**Xx Anny**


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